蜜芽传媒

Former England hooker Richard Cockerill says the current team are 'empowered' to lead meetings and not treated as schoolboys.

Cockerill, the current Leicester director of rugby, was responding to criticism of the England squad from former captain Will Carling following the side's Rugby World Cup defeat to Wales, who on Monday claimed head coach Stuart Lancaster had created a "classroom-orientated environment".

Cockerill said the England squad is "a good camp" and that Stuart Lancaster runs a "good, tight ship".

"[Owen] Farrell, [Mike] Catt and [Graham] Rowntree are very good coaches," he told 5 live Eleanor Oldroyd. "The players are empowered to lead meetings and lead sessions out on the field."

"Will [Carling] is from a different era: he's probably not been inside the camp and seen it," he added. "They're good coaches; they're good people; they're good players. They made an error at the weekend, but they didn;t mean too - that's sport sometimes."

England face Australia a crucial match at Twickenham, where, if they are defeated, they will be all but eliminated from the Rugby World Cup.

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