Recalled flanker James Haskell drops a truth bomb about England’s poor form:

“No-one will reflect back in a year’s time and say ‘Oh, that was a narrow victory’. They just want to see a ‘W’. Nor will they say ‘win or lose, they’ve got a really good culture’. Frankly it doesn’t matter.

“You never want to be the guy who talks it up and then can’t back it up, training like Tarzan and playing like Jane.”

George North on the embarrassment Wales felt after the Fiji performance:

“You don’t want to make eye contact with anyone in the debrief after a match like that. I don’t think he [Gatland] needed to say much. It was like that thing your old man does when he says: ‘ I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.’ He didn’t say much, and he just walked out. That’s when you know when you are in the real pooper, so to speak.”

Phillipe Saint-André on Teddy Thomas being dropped after missing a meeting:

“Yesterday evening we had a team meeting with a video session, there were 29 players and one was missing. In the France squad there are rules that everyone has to follow. Teddy, who we like a lot, forgot them yesterday. When you play for France you have to be irreproachable on and off the pitch. I spoke to Teddy yesterday. He understands and I’m sure he will grow up as a result.”

Rhys Webb on his confidence that Wales can beat the All Blacks:

“They’re a world-class team, top of the rankings at the moment. But I think they are there to be taken as well. Australia nearly pipped them, Scotland put a real tough performance against them. They’ve been getting a bit flustered when people have been going at them.”

Former All Blacks captain and coach John Mitchell (writing on ESPNScrum) on England’s troubles:

“England remind me of a PlayStation rugby team – there’s no X-factor and they look over-structured. They keep on talking about learning and gaining experience, but at some point they have to start beating the world’s best.”

Stuart Lancaster on claims of nepotism over the continued selection of Owen Farrell:

“Can I put that one to bed, please? I can categorically say that there is no influence of Andy [Farrell] in the selection of Owen whatsoever. I make the decision. I consult [attacking skills coach] Mike Catt more than Andy when it comes to Owen.”

Video credit: Rugby Media

Mike Stanley, who will play for Samoa this weekend, on why he only recently took up rugby again:

“To be honest I had fallen out of love with the game. In England, it gets quite serious at quite a young age. You have a lot of kids coming through the academy so it is very competitive and I had forgotten that rugby was meant to be fun.”

Richard Wigglesworth (speaking to EnglandRugby.com Podcast) on his new mentality and George Ford:

“I’ve had a shift – stop worrying about things I can’t control and worry about myself and my form, and if good things come from that then happy days and if they don’t, then I can sleep at night knowing I’m giving it everything.

“I played with George a few years ago in a Saxons game in Ireland, and that’s when I knew he was the real deal. Horrible conditions, he just pinged the corners and did everything right. Nothing flash because he didn’t need to be, but now we all know how good he is at taking the ball to the line and putting people through.”

Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images