One Pacific Island opponent down, one to go (89)
- 22 Sep 07, 07:38 PM
Nantes - So , like , survived what the hosts billed as another match couperet in this World Cup 鈥 couperet being the blade of the guillotine.
One notoriously dangerous Pacific Island opponent overcome; another, increasingly bullish, one awaits at the Parc des Princes on Friday.
The would suggest the world champions were twice as good as Samoa, but that is misleading in the extreme.
England鈥檚 heads were firmly on the block and, for 22 minutes of a pulsating second half in Nantes, were relishing their role as prospective executioners.
Jonny Wilkinson had kicked England into a relatively comfortable 26-15 lead early in the second half, but then fortune, and their own frailties, almost did for them.
The video referee鈥檚 decision to award Samoa scrum-half Junior Polu a try for what seemed barely minimal contact, let alone downward pressure, was a major turning point, visibly lifting Samoan spirits.
The neutrals among 37,000 enthralled spectators at the suddenly started to believe an upset was possible, and got right behind the underdogs, with chants of 鈥淎llez les Bleus鈥 (is there any other in France?) ringing round the ground.
From 23-6 to 26-22, the complexion of the match had changed dramatically. England were under the cosh, penalties were going against them, and the even the hitherto untroubled Jonny Wilkinson was not impervious to the pressure.
The celebrated fly-half sent a hospital pass to , who was collared man and ball, then lined up a right-footed drop goal reminiscent of his World Cup-winning effort, only to scuff it wide of the uprights.
Most remarkably, he proceeded to miss a penalty, 25m out and just left of centre, that he would normally expect to knock over in his deepest sleep.
England fans tried a chorus of , but it was half-hearted, betraying their tension at the unfolding crisis.
Another chance to relieve the pressure beckoned when Mathew Tait sprinted up the left touchline, with Mark Cueto alongside him.
But his pass missed the Sale winger, who had cut inside, completely, and after Samoa hooker had kicked the ball on, Lewsey showed tremendous composure under pressure to secure the ball with two Samoans bearing down on him.
But for the next five minutes the onslaught continued unabated. Andrew Sheridan managed to spoil a Samoan scrum five metres out, Andy Gomarsall and Wilkinson gang-tackled Henry Tuilagi, Martin Corry and George Chuter doubled up on his brother Alesana.
Wilkinson had the chance to put the ball off the field but didn鈥檛, and the Samoans came again, Joe Worsley putting in another big hit, this time on fly-half Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu.
Brian Ashton, sitting about five metres to my left, looked a worried man, as did his coaching staff.
One concerned England supporter in the tier above shouted down: 鈥淪ort it out Brian!鈥
But having put the onus back on the players to come up with solutions prior to this game, the head coach was rewarded out on the pitch.
From the 47th minute to the 69th, England鈥檚 crown was in danger of being forcibly ripped from them, but the champions鈥 courage under fire could not be faulted, the defence held firm, and the siege was lifted.
鈥淚t was a proud moment,鈥 said Gomarsall, who excelled on his return to the side. 鈥淲e were under massive pressure at the time and that was really uplifting for us.鈥
England rallied impressively, started to run some ball and build momentum, and were rewarded when Wilkinson landed a relieving, left-footed, drop-goal.
You sensed the worst was over, and the master marksman confirmed it minutes later when he banged over a penalty from halfway that gave England a 10-point cushion.
From there the confidence of the first half returned and they finished impressively, second tries for both Martin Corry and Paul Sackey securing an unlikely bonus point.
It was quite a salvage job and a welcome fillip after .
Corry said England will 鈥渘ot go overboard鈥 after putting in their first decent performance of this World Cup, and he is right to be cautious.
But there were enough signs on Saturday to suggest England should at least avoid the ignominy of becoming the first world champions to exit the tournament before the knock-out stages.
are not to be treated lightly, but a likely repeat of the , in Marseille in a fortnight, is now tantalisingly within reach.
Bryn Palmer is the 主播大秀 Sport website鈥檚 rugby union editor.
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England are going out these performances are unnacceptable
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Wow thanks for that insight Adam.
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Finally a better performance from the boys, Gomersall was top drawer, think the Farrell experiment is over now?
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Well done guys. Better, and more to work on.
I like the backs and hope they stick with them, but they have to remain on their feet a bit longer if our back row is to get to them and save turnovers.
I still fail to understand the huge delays at some breakdowns, and the slow working of the fringes. I undestand working the fringes keeps the oppostion honest but they have to do it with some pace and power. When our forwards hit ball from deeper and at angles they looked much better but some of this dive at the feet of defenders 3 ft to the left or right of a ruck is baffling to me.
Glad to see the Irish ref finally call the rucks fairly. For the first time this Cup people flying off their feet were penalised. Shame it won't continue and players flying into rucks and coming off their feet without penalty will continue next match I'm sure.
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If i'm not mistaken, your article would lead me in to believing you haven't been watching the same game as the rest of us...
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Two rubbish sides, England not quite as rubbish as Samoa. Samoa's set piece play was about the worst ive ever seen and Englands back play was about the worst ive ever seen. Both sides clueless and lacking of any cutting edge. One dimensional England for much of the game, relying as per usual on Wilkinson for the points. 'It was a proud moment' says Gomarsall - wot is he on, you could swear England had just regained the World Cup?? And Corry saying 'we wont go overboard' ha! ha! after the first decent performance. Decent performance my foot, England were about as lethal and sharp as a rubber knife. just shows how low the expectations are in the England camp. Total rubbish, and if England do manage to beat Tonga and get through to the quarter finals, the Australianw wont lose any sleep as they will absolutely annihilated England if this is the best they can offer.
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Its a massive shame to see Samoa (and Tonga if we're realistic) going home. Having just returned from the islands, seeing kids playing with coconuts on the beach, these are the most naturally gifted rugby players in the world. A number of all blacks are from these islands (Jona Lomu, Tana Umaga, Joe Rocokoco to name but 3) which is why watching new zealand is a bit of a con and away from realism. I loathe watching the kicking games of England, South Africa, France and Autralia, its so boring. Hopefully with the IRB funding these natural giants from the pacific will be real challengers in 2011. Rugby needs these guys, there is a romantic side to watching south pacific rugby
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england were average today but showed progress. will beat Tonga by a similar margin and then we will play australia who still have a shockingly bad pack. if we have equal possesion we lose, if we have significantly more, we win
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True enough england won but nought to get excited about as Samoa`s set piece play was awful, and this is the problem for all the Island teams. These are the areas, with proper coaching via proper and fair IRB funding, that can be improved on from now til the next world cup making it a truer event for these teams. The IRB 2 tiered payment system to the top nations and "developing" nations is a joke. The pittance the smaller nations recieve for world cup participation insures they won`t be developing for long, they`ll be non-existant.
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Hi Sean - just to put a very tired myth to bed (because it is very tired, and mostly due to that chap Stephen Jones), the prevalence of Pacific players in the New Zealand time is mostly because it's a *multicultural* nation on the Asia-Pacific rim. You might be shocked to remember (or, perhaps discover?) that the indigenous people of the country are a Pacific people! FYI, Jonah Lomu and Tana Umaga were *born and raised* in New Zealand, and Joe Rokocoko arrived in New Zealand at the age of five.
Additionally, many great Pacific players honed their skills and got their starts in New Zealand rugby competitions. Many of them continue to occupy central roles in rugby teams in New Zealand even though they are not eligible to represent the country. While the issues are obviously a little more complicated than I've sketched them here (and I think the NZRFU needs to be more active in its role in the Pacific, but needs to be supported by the IRB in doing so) - that's a separate debate.
For the time being, it's worth remembering that a country's rugby team might contain people of different ethnicities if it represents the makeup of their society, mightn't it? Or is that not allowed?
And yes, it is a shame to see these teams potentially going home - Samoa in 1991 is one of my favourite RWC memories, full stop.
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Definitely better from england, thought gomersall and wilkinson give us much more direction at 9 & 10.
Tait need to be replaced by Hipkiss though in the next game as we weren't running straight enough in the midfield and personally i think it would be good to see what Hipkiss can do in that regard.
I like Cueto & Sackey on the wings today although we need Robinson back at fullback as well to give our back line the best balance.
We still were not quite quick enough at the breakdown at times but i think this performance was a step forward from the last 2, i mean we aint gonna win this world cup going on current performances, but good a win against Tonga and i then i think Australia are vulnerable and we could potentially get to the Semi's.
My ideal team going forward for England would be;
1 Sheridan
2 Chuter
3 Stevens / Vickery
4 Shaw
5 Kay
6 Corry
7 Moody
8 Easter
9 Gomersall
10 Wilkinson
11 Cueto
12 Catt
13 Hipkiss
14 Sackey / (or Lewsey)
15 Robinson (when fit)
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Ok sure England played better than they had but they were playing agains a team with less patience and discipline, and at times skill. England simply starved Samoa of the ball and Johnny rotten kicked alright which is a key component for England. I still can't see them winning in the QF against possibly Australia. There were times when the England backs had the ball and simply threw it away becuase of indecision. The back lineis still in dissaray and Johnny isnt as confident with kicking in play than he was 4 years ago. and Barlkey was a disgrace as usual. Lewsey seems to be the only shinning light. As far as the "pensionners" go like Dallagio and Farrell well i still dont know why they were picked especially Dallalgio. Only Ashton knows that one.
So Bring on the English! The Wallabies are likley to rip them apart in the QF should they meet. But first TOnga! Hope Johnny Rotten doesnt get injured!
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I think I just read that Gommersall said that England were under so much pressure?
Gadsooth!! The amount of training, money etc. that his team has compared to the opposition is staggeringly different. The man jests??
The basic rugby skills that the opposition have and their desire to win should in NO way have any effect upon an allegedly super well tuned pro team. It should have been a walk in the park. Thank the good man above that JW was able to save them. Tonga beat Samoa. England have to crush them to save some face.
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This was a better England performance but their kicking game was terrible, with such lineout dominance I could not understand why they failed to find touch, it seemed like it was some kind of tactic they missed the line so many times. I thought the TMO decision for the Samoan try was terrible, there is no way Polu exerted downward pressure on the ball. I think we could have seen England open the game up a bit more if the TMO had rightly ruled a knock on and not a try.
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I鈥檓 losing faith in the IRB. Fact: referees for the past 3 games in succession have been British. This is a very clear and rather blatant example of nepotism at its best. Whatever happened to impartiality within the arena of international rugby? There are 12 referees in total with 50% of them being British. It鈥 so obvious that it鈥檚 even embarrassing. Shame on you!!!
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Rich, you think England might reach the semi-finals ?
I cannot see that myself, but you never know. Personally, I cannot see the Aussies having a bad day against England.
We can only live in hope.
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Ryan,
You may say that the stories about the New Zealand rugby team and its makeup are myths, but here's a little food for thought for you...
Of the New Zealand RWC squad this year, the following are all from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga:
Joe Rokocoko (Fiji)
Sitiveni Sivivatu (Fiji)
Isaia Toeava (Samoa)
Jerry Collins (Samoa)
Sione Lauaki (Tonga)
Chris Masoe (Samoa)
Rodney So'oialo (Samoa)
I make that seven players, so just under a quarter of the All Blacks' squad is composed of players from the Pacific Islands. Now, none of us are stupid, and we know how this has come about: fat scholarships handed out by schools and the NZRFU so these guys could come to NZ as kids, and then qualify to play for the All Blacks. It stinks, and the IRB need to do something to prevent this pillage of the Islands, such as to give them money for coaching and retention of their youngsters, and lobby for them to be included in regular international competition (along with Argentina, for that matter): I doubt New Zealand and Australia will favour such measures, as they are content to carry on robbing the Islanders of their talent!
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It's nice to see somebody put to bed the tired racism (yes, that is what it is) from the likes of Sean. Tana Umaga was born less than 60m from me a few years earlier (in Lower Hutt, a little north of Wellington city itself), and my brother played league with him at school. My cousin went to the same school as Jonah, too (it's a small country...), although she wasn't exactly much of a sportsperson.
In fact, all of the eight overseas-born members of the current All Black squad attended school in New Zealand, all but one of those (Sivivatu) from primary on through.
It does cut both ways too; if you noticed in the post-match interviews for this game, quite a few of the Samoan players have New Zealand accents because that's where they grew up.
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I cannot believe some of these comments. England are a lost team full of "half names" that would not make it into most International sides. And Wilkinson making the team after playing only 5 games since the last World Cup are a classic example of this. Yes he can kick a ball, but surely there is more to Rugby than simply kicking. And this is the reason why England is still lost in trying to play 60's and 70's rugby. This will continue until dreamers like Rob Andrew are allowed to continue to have any involvement. If England really want to figure in World Rugby in the next years, they have got to face the realities, and not keep dreaming.
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i do love these threads, you have one side who are just plain relieved to see a win and are happy... then you have the other side who just want to whinge and bitch because it wasnt a performance to show every mini player in the country and say... you, play like that...
Rob, on the back of the previous 2 results i think it is a more than fair comment from correy... yes it is a win, no we wont go overboard... what exactly is your beef with this?? i could see your point if he sat down in the news room and said "so yeah, we beat samoa, we're the best team in the tournament and everything you've said about is has been proven wrong..." but he HASNT hes merely expressed the p.o.v. that i hope EVERY player in the camp is expressing, "finally we didnt play like COMPLETE tosh and have a point to go on from". bootm line is a team can play as prettilly as you like... but if theyre losing, whats the point? people would soon get sick of it so lets take it exactlyas it is, we won, now onto the next game... one win at a time is the only way to work through any tournament...
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Nick T,
a bit harsh, especially turning Wilkinson's return into a negative.
Most teams (NZ excepted) would be glad to see him fit again.
As for your last sentence, don't you think they are, at long last, TRYING to face the realities of modern rugby?
This doesn't happen over a few months, particularly after 4 years of stagnation - which included the last World Cup, a slightly over the hill squad just did what they had to do to win it.
And that's where England are now at this WC unfortunately, just getting through one game at a time, this obviously won't be enough.
By the way, "World Rugby"?
NZ are a class apart, SA maybe getting close to them. Apart from that, only Argentina and some of the so-called "minnows" are improving enough to figure in this new world of yours.
Please don't be so patronising.
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I think most of you guys are kidding yourselves, a southern hemisphere team would have put 70 points on a Samoan team who could not gather the kick off, could not win their own line outs and kept getting turned over in the scrum. England鈥檚 use of 1970鈥檚 tactics will leave them well short in the modern game against the big fish. I would like to see a comparison of points per money spent on the England team compared to the Island team鈥檚 because no matter how you carve it up Samoa, Tonga, USA are minnows and when one of the big fish is on the field with them this should be reflected.
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It was good to see an improvement from England but this victory must be taken in context. Samoa are a comparatively poor side who are troubled with internal strife and were missing Gavin Williams who is arguably their most influential player.
On the evidence of other games, Tonga will likely be a stiffer test but are still hardly world beaters. Reality will hit home in the Q-finals when Australia will expose Englands numerous shortcomings. Face facts England fans, there is no way this English team will beat Australia.
Where do England improve? It is difficult to know with such a talentless set of backs how England are going to score against better defences so in this tournament must build on the solid platform that their forwards created yesterday and kick more intelligently. Long term however, England are stuffed unless the coaching mentality changes or their is sudden influx of young expansive backs.
To clear up one more point that Bryn has made re the Samoan try. I agree that the try was controversial but the TMO got it right if you follow the letter of the law. The rules mention nothing about downward pressure being needed, only that there is control when the ball is grounded. It was a close one but the call was good.
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Better, but at the risk of stating the obvious:
- when your opponents' line-out is so poor, the ball should be disappearing into the corner at every opportunity
- when your opponents' only offensive weapon is the counter-attack (and a jolly good one too) then you don't keep kicking the ball to their back three.
Those statements are only contradictory when you can't damn well kick accurately...
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Looking at today's performances by England and Tonga it's pretty clear that England will lose to Tonga next week. One side, Tonga, brimming with self belief came within a hair of downing a likely RWC finalist. The other side struggled all night to deal with the poorest Samoan performance in a world cup to date. The strangely lacklustre and unimaginative Samoans deservedly lost to a team only slightly better. Neither team in that game could have got within one scoring movement of SA. So sorry Poms, it looks like England will drown in the shallow end of Pool A. Oh dear how sad never mind.
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Ryan, your comments are correct, and point out the facts. Remember the recent article from the NZ Herald writer whole 鈥済ot in first with his article recently鈥, pointing out exactly the same. I believe he even quoted the fact that 11 of the Samoan team are NZ born, so 鈥渨ho is poaching who鈥! (Very tongue in cheek).
However, jealousies will never die-down (and Stephen Jones was at it again recently). He will never stop and to me it appears he will never be happy till there are only white faces in the NZ team (seem to remember the world getting upset at a certain other nation not so many years back when this happened! Wasn鈥檛 it NZ in the early 70鈥檚 who refused to visit unless they were allowed to pick the top team, not just a white only team.)
This (tired old debate) can be extended to England just as well, Matt Stevens, Mike Catt to name two (don鈥檛 think either of these two had UK passports when they were born!). If we start this fact then, how many other UK sports people are 鈥渢rue English鈥? Seems to me the a lot of the athletes originate from the Caribbean (not to mention Zola Budd!), etc, etc.
The facts do not seem to bother those who raise this issue (never let ignorance or facts get in the way of a storyline). The true fact is all of those chosen for NZ national teams actually play rugby in NZ, were educated (not only in the game) in NZ, and if not born in NZ, lived there from an very young age (either pre-school, or primary school). Siviati is probably the oldest, in the current team, coming to NZ around the age of 15.
Back to England, I was pleased they did seem to show some back-bone and play with some structure to defeat Samoa. I do not think this Samoan team is quite what they have had in the past (evidence a loss to Tonga 鈥 who looked fantastic, and SA will be very relieved to have escaped that game with a win. Tonga deserved to win, and it must be a moral victory - for whatever that is worth 鈥 to Tonga. If Tonga plays like that against England, then it will be a very tight match and could go either way. However I suspect England will use their big forwards to kill off Tonga in the end.
Back to the Samoa game, while an improvement for England, their backs are terrible. They almost butchered the opening try, it was laboured in the end, very slow passing, and seemingly little structure to their passing. I did think Gomersall (played extremely well) and Wilkinson (at least he got through the match without any injury) were by far the best of the backline. Unfortunately Tait didn鈥檛 really look up to the standard required (maybe he just had a off day).
Anyway, stranger things have happened, and with the Aussies poor scrum, maybe England could scrape through to the semi鈥檚! Personally I do not think this would be deserved, on the strength of the games in RWC so far, however if that happens, they might be up against NZ in the semi鈥檚 (provided AB can beat Scotland, then Romania, and possibly France 鈥 that will be a good game, as they look to be getting better now after the opening loss). Henry will not be losing much sleep (despite what is says in public), over the distant prospect to NZ vs England.
The crown is definitely gone.
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Craig (post 15) what are you drivelling on about? With the British Isles providing four of rugby's top(ish!) nations, there's bound to be a big percentage of British Isles refs, although any refs from the Republic of Ireland are likely to take pretty strong exception to being described as British.
And so what anyway? Do you think they are going to favour the other British Isles nations? If so, then you are sadly deluded: like most close neighbours, the rivalry between the nations of the British Isles is fiercer than with pretty much anyone else.
And the bias which you claim to perceive would not be nepotism, which means "favouritism to relatives".
And shame on who? Me and everyone else reading this? Why? We didn't choose the refs.
There's enough problems in international rugby without having to invent concerns about the nationality of refs, just because you've got some kind of chip on your shoulder about Britain and Ireland.
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Im english, but I find it strange how you are all criticizing New Zealand for "stealing" players..mike catt and matt stevens are both south african! ok, thats not detremental to South African rugby, but still, our side isnt 100% english is it..i've just come back from a rugby tour to New Zealand and these guys arent brought in when they are 18, many move over when they are 10/11 or younger
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It was a great match yesterday two teams desperate to win.I don't think England are going to win this world cup obviously and Samoa are going home but the game had everything and we should celebrate that.I really enjoyed it and it's too easy to knock the players when you are sitting in the pub with a pint don't judge the gladiator until you have tasted the sands of the arena or something like that.
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Sorry for continuing off topic, but I think looking at the case of the So'oialo brothers might be enlightening.
Steven So'oialo: Born in Samoa, plays for Samoa
Rodney So'oialo: Born in NZ, plays for NZ
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I suspect having read all of these comments that there are a great number of ex-colonials responding. England played reasonably well yesterday but not well enough to lift the trophy again unless they improve dramatically. What really annoys me is the inability of nearly all referees to apply the laws of the game. Almost all lineouts are not straight, nearly all scrums are being fed and the front rows are scheming to collapse it. We need extra referees on the field to ensure that those nations that have law-breaking as part of their teach-in sessions are penalised and more players are sin-binned. That way at least, the nations that want to play rugby will be able to get on and those who like breaking the rules will be justifiably penalised.
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Hi
Nice to get a win, and to play some pacey rugby at times. BUT lets not forget all the Samoan points were "gifted" to them from giving away 5 penalties in the England half, one came directly from Cueto kicking away possession, and the try & conversion came directly from Gomarsall kicking away possession. Lets hope they can cut out those kind of naive mistakes in the next game!
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Shelby Jake, what a load of rubbish. The Second string team put out by SA, barring Pienaar, was absolutely useless. They would probably have been better off sticking catt, farrell and noon in the midfield. Although Tonga played out of their skin and will provide a stern test for England they won't be able to beat them.
England desperately needs to stop this 10/12 playmaker rubbish. Leave the fly half to do his job properly and get the centres doing what they are there for, direct running, making breaks and setting up good quick ball across the gain line. Hipkiss seems most suited for this job. They also need Moody in there just to bring a sense of urgency to the forwards.
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With Ref to comment 12
Tom mate take it you are not really a avid English fan. If you are from Oz then I and the rest of England value your comments after all you where the SECOND best team at the last W/C. As for Johnny Rotten you are right he is an intricate cog in English Rugby and it would be a shame if he was to get injured so thankyou for your concern.
As for yesterdays game it was an improvment but then it couldnt get any worse. As for the loss to S/A get over it look to the future and keep our fingers crossed. In 2003 people said England played bad in this game and that game with no flare no idea but we won it and all those comments were forgotten. If we improve against Tonga who have shown to be no push over, and win that game then we can concentrate on the Q/F. If thats Oz then hay bring it on you have to beat the best to be the best. The team yesterday is the best we have fielded so far the only changes I would make is Hipkiss,Moody and Robinson if fit to start.
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I wonder why England who built up to 2003 so well and won against everyone consistantly, would after winning the cup, suddenly forget how to play rugger?
I dont think this year is the worry, defending champs is a great position to be in, but seriously after thehard work of the last WC its sad to see the team so average. I hope we can get some inspiration from Johnny
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COME ON BRYN!!!!!!!!! As the 主播大秀 Sport Websites Rugby Union Editor you of all people should be aware that the laws of the game do not mention that the award of a try is dependant on "downward pressure" and rather it is just control of a ball that is in contact with the ground that is required. However, their try scorer did not appear to be in control to me and it was rather more of a slap down.
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anyone who thinks England will come anywhere close to the Wallabies in the QF is having a laugh. Unfortunately the English team is rubbish at the moment - and don't forget that the Oz team is officially ranked no. 2 in the world. i think our rugby team is heading the same way as our cricket team.......
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Craig, do yourself a favour an study the Laws of Rugby before you shoot your mouth off. You don't need downward pressure to score a try, just contact.
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A true multi-cultural nation assimilates people from all creeds and races ( to quote our national anthem...' Men of every creed and race gather here before thy face...etc.) New Zealand is a true multi-cultural nation. There were very few people that I went to school with who's parents were born in NZ. They were Dutch, Lebbonese, Irish, Samoan, Tongan ...the list goes on. The problem Stephen Jones seems to have given a lot of people over here is a misunderstanding about who lives in NZ. All of the current NZ squad are either born in NZ or have moved there with their families from a young age ( 5 years old in Joe's case) or have attended secondary school there. We're happy to have them - they play great rugby but then so do the maori guys( Tana for example) and the pakehas( Dan's pretty good) aren't too bad either...Back to the rugby - I'm looking forward to the Tongan game thought they were brilliant against SA. Disappointed in Samoa's play - where were all the big hits ..!
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The REAL point that you are all missing about the All Blacks is that rugby isn't an important enough sport to matter.
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Given the two previous outings I think England can take a lot of positives from this game. The energy levels were massively improved, as was team's ability to handle the psychological pressures. I was also impressed by the seamless inclusion of the subs in the last quarter of the game. Negatives? yes there were -I'm still of the opinion that Tait is out of his depth at this level; Sackey's brilliant try shouldn't be used to mask his defensive frailities and the middle of the park got too congested when there were attacking possibilities. In that regard there's still a lot of work to be done if we're to get the full benefit from the Wilkinson/Barkley partnership. Will Greenwood made some fascinating observation about that latter point in his post match analysis and let's hope BA & co were listening. As for the other media contribution, namely the match commentary, messrs Harrison & Barnes reached a new low and got me reaching for the mute button after the first 20 minutes. Is this duo really the best we have?
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why does everyone keep criticising the "1 dimensional" rugby england are supposedly playing. we didnt win the world cup with free flowing attacking play. we played to our strengths and dominated with our pack. granted, at the moment we dont have the best pack in the world, SA do, which is why i think they'll win the world cup, but we shouldn't kid ourselves and suddenly start playing, or trying to play, that style of rugby. this doesnt mean you cant pick attacking players and undoubtedly, sackey's finish was top drawer. i just think if wilkinson's kicking won us the cup 4 years ago, then i'd settle for a world cup and no more tries from now on.
as for the selection, vickery should not be captain, because he shouldnt be picked, matt stevens has outplayed him each time, so id pick corry as captain. the back row is a tough decision, easter and corry in at 8 and 6, but number 7, its between rees, moody and worsely. ive been saying tait should play in the centre for a long time, but i think dan hipkiss deserves a go. he runs straight, always makes ground, and has that knack of staying on his feet then the forwards driving him 20 yards forward. im not sure what olly barkely actually did the other day, but england need another kicker outside wilko, preferably a right footer, but not mike catt. lewsey, cueto and robinson should make up the back 3, probably lewsey at 15, he's a strong tackler and very calm under pressure, altho robinson is good attacking from deep.
tough call, but i'd pick
1-Sheridan
2-Chuter
3-Stevens
4-Shaw
5-Kay
6-Corry
7-Rees
8-Easter
9-Gomarsall
10-Wilkinson
11-Cueto
12-Barkely
13-Hipkiss
14-Robinson
15-Lewsey
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The rules mention neither downward pressure or control. All the player has to do is press down on the ball.
Both So'oialo brothers were born in Samoa.
Not a bad game, and if England can find touch --as Wilkinson did against Wales not too many weeks ago-- then things might go better.
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Ryan
Just to put you right - I personally know Tana Umaga very well and he was not born in NZ he was actually born in Samoa
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Regarding the number of British referees, what does it matter, unless there is bias? As far as I can see, they are more anti-British than for them. No-one mentions that Brian Lima got away with a penalty for a neck-high tackle yesterday. Namibia had a player sent off for that, Australia had players sin-binned.
As for England, what does everyone expect. This was a better performance than previous ones. No-one expected us to win this World Cup. My disappointment is that Brian Ashton didn't pick a lot of younger players, to give them the experience of the competition.
As for Tonga, of course it will be tough. But then South Africa made 11 changes to the team which beat England - only the All Blacks can do that without having a serious impact on their performance.
I think England will beat Tonga and then lose to Australia. But as long as we lose playing rugby, I care less. At least yesterday we had a scrum-half who moved the ball quickly - Perry couldn't have been slower if he'd tried.
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It's quite incredible. One win, with a very flattering scoreline, and suddenly England are world-beaters again. There are posters on here actually talking about winning the bloody thing. Give us a break; you could easily have lost this game and came bloody close to doing so. You're not even out of the pool yet; Tonga gave the Boks, even after they'd brought on the big guns, no end of trouble. And the Boks, even with second XV, are a thousand times better than England are. Don't start counting on a QF vs Australia because a Tonga win wouldn't be any kind of upset and you might not (hopefully won't, so the endless arse-licking about ingerlund and jonny-is-god wilkinson is finally silenced) be there.
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first five and 2nd five need to click and this didnt happen. think hipkis should come into the midfeild but shouldnt forget farrel.Think they need to give the younger talent ago also like flood
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Turbinator wrote: "On the evidence of other games, Tonga will likely be a stiffer test but are still hardly world beaters"
I confess to being an armchair follower, but I watched Tonga come within one slightly better placed pass of drawing, or beating (if the subsequent kick went over) South Africa. People seem to be suggesting that South Africa are the second best team in the world.
Perhaps I am being ignorant, but if Tonga are not "world beaters" then surely they are not far off? I don't understand why (in any sport) a top class performance from a smaller team is not seen as such. And my impression is that rugby is one of the hardest sports in which to fluke a victory. Am I missing something?
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Even though (as I'm sure Bryn is aware) downward pressure is not necessary to score a try, I must say that I think the decision to award it was harsh on England. To my eyes it seemed that he 'bounced' the ball and at no point was the ball in contact with both player and ground. Big call to make, but in the end academic. To be honest, the scoreline would have been a very unfair representation of the game had it not been awarded.
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A likely repeat of the 2003 final? Is this a joke or have you developed a taste for mind fooling narcotics?
Come on, lets try to be realistic. Have you already put the non scoring match against south africa in the back of your mind where the brain stores all unwanted memories?
Sorry, but if England makes it through to the next round, it will be a complete disgrace to the game, considering their performance so far.
I would want nothing more than tonga to beat England on Friday, so good luck boys!
Australia or New Zealand defeat? i think not.
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To comment 34 when i said i wished johnny wouldnt get injured on the Tonga game I was being sarcastic
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Replace Barkley with Flood, Worsley with Rees/Moody and Tait with Hipkiss. Then we'll be making progress.
And I'm still not convinced about Corry when we face decent opposition to be honest. Maybe we should have a back row of Moody, Easter and Rees.
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"There are posters on here actually talking about winning the bloody thing"?
Where? I may have missed them but if they are present, they are either drink-fuelled or wind-ups. Lighten up.
"Sorry, but if England makes it through to the next round, it will be a complete disgrace to the game, considering their performance so far. I WOULD WANT NOTHING MORE than tonga to beat England on Friday, so good luck boys!"
So pleased you said sorry, and maybe you should set yourself higher goals in life.
Finally, to all England fans - you should know by now that you are not allowed, under any circumstances, to celebrate any victory, it is arrogant, triumphalist and you should all be ashamed of yourselves.
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Lomu played League up until the age of 16 when some Union scout stole him away with a juicy scholarship to some ponsy private school in Auckland. Up until then his dream was to play for the Kiwis ie the NZ R League team as opposed to the AB's but of course money talks. The NZ League squad is comprised mainly of indigenous NZ'ers as opposed to the AB's which is simply Islanders with 3rd generation white Europeans to make it look like the AB's are indeed from N Zealand! Richie McCaw..now he looks, erm from Birmingham!! Carter, mm. INteresting history NZ Rugby. I still see the NZ Warriors are attracting 25000 crowds and there's everyone thinking that League was a game played by pie-eaters.
On todays performance I reckon the Aussies will beat the AB's..close.
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Lomu played League up until the age of 16 when some Union scout stole him away with a juicy scholarship to some ponsy private school in Auckland. Up until then his dream was to play for the Kiwis ie the NZ R League team as opposed to the AB's but of course money talks. The NZ League squad is comprised mainly of indigenous NZ'ers as opposed to the AB's which is simply Islanders with 3rd generation white Europeans to make it look like the AB's are indeed from N Zealand! Richie McCaw..now he looks, erm from Birmingham!! Carter, mm. INteresting history NZ Rugby. I still see the NZ Warriors are attracting 25000 crowds and there's everyone thinking that League was a game played by pie-eaters.
On todays performance I reckon the Aussies will beat the AB's..close.
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The real question about Pacific Islanders in the AB team is whether their parents move to NZ for work reasons or rather are persuaded financially by savvy AN talent scouts who have seen their boys play. I suggest that if the proper amount of money were used to fund Pacific Island rugby, then many of these wonderfully talented players would choose instead to play for their homeland. So, we can be sure that NZ and Australia too will be none too keen on funding them.
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The real question about Pacific Islanders in the AB team is whether their parents move to NZ for work reasons or rather are persuaded financially by AB talent scouts who have seen their boys play. I suggest that if the proper amount of money were used to fund Pacific Island rugby, then many of these wonderfully talented players would choose instead to play for their homeland. So, we can be sure that NZ will be none too keen on funding them.
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Well said Spooner. I was at the final in 2003 and if you weren't English you were cheering on the canary Yellows! The fact we actually won the thing has got up every ones noses ever since. The Irish chuckle when we lose as do the Scots and the Welsh, but better to have had a day than never at all. The sad fact is that all the Northern hemisphere teams are a long way apart at the moment. But let's face it once you get into the quarters anything can happen. Nobody gave the Aussies a prayer against teh Kiwi's in 2003 and look what happened. Even the Aussies weren't interested! If you are 'in it' you can 'win it'. And fially in response to Adam in post 22. South Africa didn't put 70 on them or are they not considered southern hemisphere.
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I hate to seem like an avid and optimistic English fan, but I think to be honest we did play an improved game against Samoa, I certainly don't believe we can win the cup at this standard... I doubt we will even get past Australia in the QF (though I think we will edge past Tonga... but the team is definately improving, especially from the warm up games against France where we were dismal.
The team does need shaking up some too though, and personally I would like to go for a mix of experience and youth (obviously)
The team i'd go for IDEALLY (I know some of this is impossible due to injuries and the like) is as follows:
1:Sheridan
2:Regan (16:Chuter)
3:Vickery
4:Shaw
5:Corry (17:Kay)
6:Worsley (18:Rees)
7:Moody
8:Easter
9:Perry (19:Gommarsall)
10:Wilkinson (20:Flood)
11:Cueto
12:Barkley (21:Catt)
13:Noon (22: Hipkiss)
14:Robinson
15:Lewsey
With all the Subs being used at some point
What do you people think?
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England's lack of form is interesting. In the first two games, it seemed to be entirely due to not committing enough players at the breakdown, and hence the lack of quick ball and frequent turnovers. That problem seems to have been slightly fixed (although that may be due to Samoan open style), and now there is a new (or the same old) problem: England cannot break the gain line in the backs. Even with quick ball, England never once broke the defensive line off 1st/2nd/3rd phase in the backs, or ever looked like doing so. Why? Passing, mainly. Englands passes go directly TO the receiver, not to the space in front of him. You constantly see backs rooted to the spot, waiting for the pass to reach them, rather than running on to the ball - and once they get it, the defence is already up on them, so all they can do is ship it on, sending out another hospital pass like the one they just received. The result is the ball at the end of the back line, 15m back from where it began, in the hands of a stationary winger. So instead they don't bother - JW just kicks. If the first pass of an attacking move is put in front of the receiver (i.e. flat) it makes it possible for all the other passes to be flat too. It keeps the defence honest; it means players receive the ball AT the gainline and at PACE - hence even if they are tackled, they will make ground. And in this scenario, one dummy, one sidestep - and the defensive line is broken. Watch the all blacks. They are masters of the flat pass - and they break defensive lines with ease. Why, at the top flight of Enlish rugby, can this not be recognised and enforced?
Let me know what you think. I have played a lot of rugby and believe me, this is schoolboy stuff.
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I've been following the England rugby team since the early 1970s. Over those years we've lost far more than we've won, so the current situation is not exactly unknown to me. In 2003 we went to Australia and won deservedly, beating the hosts in a very tight final. Since then the side has had little direction and the results have gone from bad to worse, with the excruciating result against the United States reaching an all-time low.
Given how bad we were in our first two games (and, for that matter, the ten or so games before that) anything that looks like progress is welcome.
If England qualify for the Quarter-Finals it will not be "a disgrace", it will be because we have beaten the three sides below us in the group. I am aware of no rule that says that a side with fewer points and fewer wins should qualify because by some unspecified criterion they look better!
Are we world-beaters? Will we win the World Cup? Of course not! The only people posting that are some bored Australians who want to get a rise out of us. Right now I'd back all four main southern hemisphere sides to make the Semi-Finals and New Zealand or South Africa to win. Right now 95% of England fans will settle simply for giving Australia a tough game in the Quarter-Finals.
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Dear David M
Would you please read comment 18, comment 10 and this one.
As seven of the eight foreign born players in the All Blacks arrived in New Zealand in time to go to Primary school, your claim that All Black talent scouts went and 鈥渃herry picked鈥 them out of the Pacific Islands, and then paid for the young players鈥 entire families to move to New Zealand is obviously ludicrous.
The New Zealand Rugby Union does not have the uncanny foresight to spot an All Black at the age of 5, which is about the age these players were moved to New Zealand by their families. Nobody has that level of foresight.
Please stop insulting these men by saying, in effect; that they are not 鈥淣ew Zealander鈥 enough to play for the All Blacks. Their families moved to New Zealand when they were young, they grew up in New Zealand, and these players have achieved the hard fought for position of being able to play for New Zealand, in the black jersey, through the dedication and talent they displayed in New Zealand.
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hi hannah here and i just want to say that i think that JONNY WILKINSON played very well this weekend and i had my eye on jonny wilkinson all the time and i did not take my eye off jonny wilkinson and i i know that jonny wilkinson will be playing next weekend and i will keep my eye on jonny wilkinson and just jonny wilkinson and i do love my very sexy baby jonny wilkison so much andi know that he has got someone but i still love my very sexy baby jonny wilkinson so much and i do wish that i was going out with my very sexy baby jonny wilkinson and i wish that i was jonny wilkinson girlfriend and then i can kiss him all the time then and and be with him aswell beause he is my very sexy baby and it is just jonny wilkinson that i love and my very sexy baby love from hananh xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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"Lomu played League up until the age of 16 when some Union scout stole him away with a juicy scholarship to some ponsy private school in Auckland."
Wesley College is not a "ponsy private school", it's a state-integrated decile 2 school in Parerata. (Ten is high; decile 2 means 80% of schools are in wealthier areas, more or less). It's not "ponsy", and it's not private.
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I agree with Adam Davies about Englands back play .The fundamental basics are just not being performed well enough which is a huge worry considering that the game of rugby is their job.Their seems to be an obsession in NH hemisphere rugby with miss passes when often or not all is required is simple straight running and good passing.
The performance on Saturday was a marked improvement but still way short of being able to compete at the absolute top level.
I rather think that England however were on a hiding to nothing with most people .A good solid win and it is "well it is only Samoa" any closer and "we can't even put Samoa away".
Let's face it any optimism about England competing beyond the 1/4 final stage was unrealistic and the defence of their title is and always was going to be a damage limitation exercise considering what has gone on the past four years.
But we won and I believe we will beat Tonga next weekbecause I do not think we will take them as lightly as Samoa or SA did.
As for our SH friends on here and other boards hoping to take a few pot shots at the "Arrogant Poms" ,we know we are not good and realistically should go out in the quarters so it is all a little pointless.
I have no doubt the WC winner will come from onre of the tri Nations side because they are better prepared physically and mentally.
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Time we brought in out own Tongans. Get Vainakolo out there for one of our injured backs
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Think Hipkiss is needed at 13, tait looked confused and not confident. Lewsey's kicking was shocking, we need a better 15 at kicking, his error cost us a try.
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A technical point YOU DO NOT NEED DOWNWARD PRESSURE TO SCORE A TRY!!!!!!! How many people continue to get this wrong....the ball has to be under control, maybe just for a brief instant. I stopped reading your blog when I got to that glaring factual error.
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The static and ponderous play by the England backs is nothing new. Ive been watching England for 20 years and can remember little else. Englands success up the World Cup 2003 was 100% due to forward domination and a clear tactic for forcing penaties for Johnny to kick. Its a fact that more often than not if you can keep the ball for 60% of the time you will win most games. the 2001-2003 pack was awesome.
Todays forward 8 are not mobile enough, slow to the breakdown and lack individual attacking momentum.
Its still a mistery to me why England fail to produce quality back lines AKA France, Wales and NZ. The talent is there but not the confidence I fear hense the kicking game.
England by 10 points over Tonga, Australia to win by 20 in the QF
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I don't know why people are so surpried that South Sea Islanders flock to NZ etc to excel at what they love doing and provide greater financial stability to themselves/family. Whilst it is a loss locally, it is also a fact of life - nurses from the Philippines come to the UK for 'great reward' in the NHS, and people traditionally head to large population centres in hope of finding jobs etc. I would like to see an ease in regulations on jersey sponsorship to allow the developing countries to profit further from the global exposure that comes their way every 4 years. Currently the bigger countries are getting richer and the smaller ones lose out, we should aim to close the gap not widen it. And give Japan a world cup to host not NZ...
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I keep reading that people saying Australia are vulnerable. In what way? In that they destroy poor teams? England don't even do that. We have the slowest back-row, and out entire gameplan revolves around Wilkinson. Any decent team will negate him, in the way Chabal gets taken out of a game. Corry saying they won't get carried away, is more in the hope that the fans don't. Which it appears we are already
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post 46
ALAN are you related to NIGEL ??HANNAH got any sisters??
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I keep reading that people saying Australia are vulnerable. In what way? In that they destroy poor teams? England don't even do that. We have the slowest back-row, and out entire gameplan revolves around Wilkinson. Any decent team will negate him, in the way Chabal gets taken out of a game. Corry saying they won't get carried away, is more in the hope that the fans don't. Which it appears we are already
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hmmm post number 68 - australia to win by 20 in the qf (vs england)
i have a feeling that oz would happily settle for 19 less than that having watched england beat samoa. one game doesn't turn things round but mike ford's words are interesting. along the lines of - this england team reminds me of the wigan league team at a certain time in the 90's. our training was excellent but we couldn't translate it into convincing victories. then one day we did. and then we won 13 of our next 14 games...................
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A much better performance by England. There were more positives to take out than negatives, but a stepping stone in the right direction.
I did like the balance of the back line and I think there could be good things to come from them. They just need games. JW has just come back from another injury and will need time to get into to his stride.
Even the players recognised while it was step up there is till much work to do.
I think the Tonga game will see us win convincingly. I think it will be a little of "after the Lord Mayors show" like Samoa V SA in 2003. Samoa came very close to beating us and then flopped against SA.
We are not going to win the tournament at the moment, but blind hope is better than no hope. Just supposing we did beat Australia, how crap would that make them?!
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Why does everybody who is not English take such delight in England losing ? I can only ascribe it to some sort of inferiority complex.
Clearly England are playing at a level where they will struggle to beat Tonga and are more than likely to lose to Australia. All of the Southern Hemisphere sides plus France and Argentina look better than us at the moment. There is little to choose between any of the 主播大秀 Nations. Most sensible supporters on this board acknowledge this. We harbour the probably vain hope that we might improve, at least allow us that.
In 2003 we had a number of outstanding individuals who were able to paper over the cracks of our tactical and skill deficiencies. Now they are all either out of the side or past their peak.
For the subsequent games we should definitely play Hipkiss for Tate. In the back row only Easter should be a certainty but neither Dallaglio nor Worsley should play We should retain Stevens ahead of Vickery. Lewsey looks like the best option at full back, just stop him kicking, I am yet to be convinced about Sackey but I'm equally dubious about an ageing Robinson.
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Just a couple of points
First Don't let the Kiwis and Aussies out there wind you up. We had the last laugh 4 years ago it is not over this time yet - Will we laugh if (when) France wins the cup - you bet!
The other point that most are missing about country of origin is the effect it is having on pacific islands. England have "foreigners" Certainly Wales and Scotland do and occasionally someone gets it wrong! I have no problem with players playing the country of development but what can we do to prevent the drain from the Islands. So'oialo brothers are a case in point. Only 1 stayed and played for the place of his birth.
IRB need to pay out some of their millions (12m from 1999 and 14m from 2003 is it?) to develop Pacific Islands and thus to keep the players there. If a few still go to boost NZ so what. The problem is when most of the top players leave an island. And it is just as bad when they prefer to play GPremiership than for their country!
Tonga have done themselves proud (I fear they may have played themselves to a stop) but we must ensure they are there in 4 years to do better not worse.
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Adam Davies (comment 60) makes an obvious observation, but it should be heeded by both coaches and players. Basic passing skills are being ignored by the northern hemisphere teams, particularly England. If England can reycle quicker (much better on Saturday) and put runners behind the gain line with good passing/running angles/intelligent options (Wilkinson to Sackey for his late try a good example)then this team can compete with the best.
Corry would be better at lock. Drop Kay. Borthwick on the bench. Moody 6, Rees 7, Easter 8 with Worsley on the bench. Front row is fine.
There is no natural full back in this squad, so how about a good all-round footballer like Barclay at 15? Hipkiss and Lewsey at centre (strong runners breaking the gain line) Any of Robinson/Cueto/Sackey/Tait on the wing. Never been a big fan of Gommersall but he did very well vs Samoa and the other number 9 options just, well, aren't options.
Wilkinson to capatin. Unlike Corry he communicates well and has tactical nous. Just wish he - and others - could punt with greater precision
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England improved last Saturday- yes.
Were they good enough to worry any other side- no! Tonga will push them to their average limit.
The forwards were better committed v Samoa but the backs really need a kick up their indecisive rears. Wilkinson can kick but seems unable to do much else. Tait should not be in the team- send him home. Lewsey should be forgiven the odd error because of his excellent work rate and attacking ability.
PS- On a different note- Who was the prat who chose the jersies for Scotland v All Blacks ? It spoilt the whole match for me!
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This is the second balanced and fairly accurate piece from you in a week. Well done boyo and keep up the good work. By the way any chance of publishing your answer to scrphil's question (comment 76)in your next blog. Also I have a supplementary question. If you all hate England and the English that much, why do you live and work in that green and pleasant land and take our filthy luca? Well we're waiting?
Yaki da.
Mike Towl
Lagos
Portugal
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England were poor and lucky not to lose, Jonny the messiah - I think not, his kicking from hand was poor.
Barclay was lost, Tait was lost, Josh's kicking poor
Gomersall was very good - if he had not been playing we would have been praying
Pack went OK, but the old mentality persists
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First of all, to all of you who reckon SA will at least make the finals, and perhaps even win it. BLESS YOU. We all know how badly we need it now that our cricket team has gone to pot.
I am suprised by the negativity surrounding England though. In a knock out stage of a tournament anything can happen, and past form and world rankings mean very little. (Just ask Smith and Polly)
Australia and New Zealand have yet to be tested at this years World Cup and they may become a little bit complacent. 20 handling errors against England or a stronger team could end up being very costly. England have shown steady signs of improvement and who knows, they may yet peak at the right time.I wouldn't write them off just yet.
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Well I have been very negative in the past and I still think we have no chance of winning the thing BUT it was a win although I missed it. I was there for the SA match and they were appalling. I am going for the Tonga game and surely.............But I have no doubt that the problems run far deeper than the world cup squad.
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what i didn't understand was y jonny decided 2 kick everytime....when he scored the drop goal in the first 10 mins i thought that he could have passed it out and there would have been an overlap.....surely 5/7 points would be better then 3???? and also i would like to see him kick to touch more on pens so we can try to make a statement otherwise teams will think that we can only get 3 points at a time....maybe a case for flood or barkley at 10 as they arn't all about kicking
i would also give tait a run of 4-5 games at least....dont decide he is rubbish after 1 game because no matter what...he is better than you ;-)
P.S. is olly morgan still injured beacuse seemed to be first choice fullback during the 6 nations until he got his injury????
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I must state that i'm not a fan of Lawerence D, but i can't see beyond allowing him to have a significant role in the next game. England are fragile going forward and in securing ball at the base of their own scrum...my proposal would give England go forward, leadership, talisman, pace to the breakdown and scrum base security for Jonny to have an arm chair based influence...i'd do the following...Bring Lawerence into No.8, have Moody (great impact when he came on) at 6 and Rees at 7, and move Corry into the Second row at the expense of the hesitent - poor in the open Ben Kay. We then have our three best big ball carriers in the squad on the pitch in the shape of sheriden, corry and dally. We also have pace to the breakdown which has been grossly lacking, in the form of two very quick flankers.
Out side of Jonny, i'd look to Hipkiss who is dynamic and secure in the tackle and tait who has so much potential. The motivation needs to be for the boys to finally do it for themselves...take the leadership pressure off corry and Vickery, it's breaking them, make Dally Scrum Captain, and Jonny Captain.
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Tonga win by 1 point with an extra time Drop Goal on 82 mins!!!
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Neutrals chanting "allez les bleus"? I'm no expert on sporting diplomacy but methinks they were slightly partisan.
As for talk of a Eng/Aus QF is anyone else mildly concerned that we still have to play 80mins against Tonga?
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Firstly I am no international player but it seems screamingly obvious to me that England鈥檚 handling skills in the backs are woeful. Passes are (delete as necessary) 鈥 directly AT the runner, BEHIND the runner or delivered TOO HIGH but never in the space in front of the runner. Each time the receiver has to check his stride on the times he is actually running forward!, which at this level, means the defence is on top of the receiver and is tackled thereby going backwards and not over the gain line. The back row joins the maul or ruck by having to retreat behind the back foot (which because it is behind the gain line means them having to run in two direction backward then forwards) to join it which allows the defence more time to shunt the attacking players committed to the ruck/maul backwards and the result is slow ball for the attacking side. Then compound this with Perry who then dithers about surveying the field and the whole game is played at a pedestrian pace. QED!. England have some good players 鈥 one or two possibly world class, but Jonny is a crock (sorry but he is!), his sideways stutter puts the backs into disarray assuming he is not kicking, Jason is too far away from any action so only can really influence the game in broken play, Josh doesn鈥檛 know where he is playing from day to day and has lost his confidence. It is a travesty and frankly doesn鈥檛 need a brain surgeon to see it. Just about every other side in the competition and I include (with no disrespect to them) the minnows of Portugal, Namibia et al all of whom seem, to me at least, to have in the most part mastered some basic skills in the backs. England鈥檚 backs are by far and way the most ineffectual on show and no amount of quick ball from the forwards (who have pretty much held their own even vs SA) will help them when the basics are so poor.
BA can only coach the players, develop a strategy but it is the players who implement basic skills, strategy, tactic etc not BA per se. I have noted (but I admit I may be incorrect) that all England鈥檚 tries have been scored from short passes, drives, off loads, taps etc and not from so called sweeping movements where the basics need to be precise. Shorter passes are less likely to go astray in the context of putting the receiver into space, so England can execute it, but just watch England鈥檚 backs trying to pass the ball 鈥 they鈥檙e ALL standing still waiting for a ball to reach them!. It is truly pitiful but I have played enough rugby to understand that even with the most accomplished players if you get the basics so very wrong you are likely to get beaten when the opposition get it right!
SO I agree with other comments regarding this but say that it doesn鈥檛 matter who plays if the basics are garbage then you鈥檒l get garbage performance and that鈥檚 what we鈥檝e got from this England side thus far.
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May someone enlighten me why is it that the south pacific countries like Fiji, Samoa are so poor at line outs, scrums even though they seem to have players playing in all the major rugby nations? If only they get that sorted out, what a force they would be...
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