It's an interesting question to pose. There are 14-16 test rugby matches between now and the WC so why are we talking as if this is the team that will be playing the opening match at Twickenham in just under two years' time?
To compare, the England football team will have played a similar number of internationals between summer 2012 and next summer and yet we're only talking about the WC now, only seven months beforehand. I feel it's a combination of two factors:
1. English football is shit. We haven't won anything in two generations and yet people still clamour over it and believe that, since we have now qualified, the slimmest of possible chances is still a chance to win the WC again and end years of hurt. I have a few choice words for those believers. Give up. Our best players, in my opinion, are being catastrophically overlooked not only at international level but at club level as well. I've always said that Tottenham will only ever be a force to be reckoned with if they start trusting Jermaine Defoe to get them the goals! He scores nearly every time he's given a chance to start and he could do the same with England but, again, he's neglected by what I can only assume is blind stupidity. Leighton Baines had a shocker against Chile, but I do think that Ashley Cole has had his day at this level and it's time to move for Keiran Gibbs and let him show the world why he's part of a league-topping defence.
Conversely, English rugby is good. We showed last autumn that we can still battle with the best in the record defeat of the Kiwis and there were a lot of positives to take out of the internationals this month. That, and the fact I can remember the Grand Slam and WC combo in 2003, mean that the public in general believe that England actually have a chance in the next WC and they do. England lost their opening match at the 2007 RWC and yet still made the final. That's how crazy rugby can be sometimes, and I don't even think the 2007 bunch were particularly good! Yet they showed the determination, as incumbents, to reach the final and challenge for the WC. Did Cueto score a try? Well, it was an Aussie ref...
2. English football had to qualify. Nearly every country recognised by the UN (and a few that aren't) play international football. This means that there is a rigorous process to be one of the 32 teams that ultimately makes it to the finals. It also means that talking about England and their chances at the WC is somewhat premature before they've qualified. Seeing as how 'down to the wire' it was this time, it might be a while before we can safely be assured of qualification. I mean, who are Montenegro? Seriously?
Thanks to the slightly different way the RWC works, England don't have to qualify, and probably never will. This is largely due to there being fewer rugby nations (and even fewer 'test' nations). The southern hemisphere powers and the teams that compete in the Six Nations would take umbrage at having to qualify. Although they would have to if they did not place in the top three in their pool at the previous WC. This, however, would be a rare occurrence as they're the top nine teams in the world and there are twelve spots up for grabs.
The combination of these two facts mean that we are able to start talking about the current England rugby team with reference to the WC in 2015 (which is being held here) and not feel too ridiculous doing so. The flip side is that there are a few players who are part of this current team who may not make the cut in two years' time. Young players are constantly being blooded into the England team, look at the successful tour to Argentina this summer. Various players need a bit more time. Tom Youngs needs to practice his lineouts and Billy Twelvetrees should show more of his club form for his country as he was not at his best against Argentina this autumn.
It is premature, but the knowledge that both teams will be competing in their respective World Cups means that we can start to gossip and speculate and, as Englishmen, we do that really well.
Tuesday 19 November 2013
Tuesday 5 November 2013
An Excellent All-Round Display At Twickenham
I really enjoyed watching England beat Australia. Not just because it was Australia, but because we played an excellent game of rugby. I prevented myself from learning the score as I was at work followed by a Halloween party. I shall forever be indebted to the hosts for recording the match and preventing those that knew of the score from talking until after we'd all watched the match the following morning.
Let's start with the Man of the Match shall we? Fully deserved of the honour, Mike Brown had a game to remember. His incredible up-and-under followed up by picking the ball off the head of Will Genia was a joy to watch. A real contrast to the usual kick-and-forget rugby that we've become accustomed to recently. It was like watching Clement Poitrenaud, who I consider to be one of the best international fullbacks to have played, in the ingenuity of his game on Saturday. Special mention goes to the touch judge who didn't see how clearly Brown was in touch in the build up to one of England's tries. Although Cooper could have done better with that kick.
Talking of Quade Cooper, he is a mentalist isn't he? Great rugby player though. He plays with strength and flair. It's very rare to have a rugby player that can combine those two traits. His kicking left a lot to be desired and he seemed to attack Marlon Yarde without any reason to. He needs to control his temperament otherwise he could lose his spot. As my host for the weekend said, "If it weren't for rugby, he'd be in prison." If he carries on the way he's going, he might just end up there anyway.
By contrast to Brown, Billy Twelvetrees had a game to forget at 12. None of the excellence that he displayed during the Six Nations was on display against Australia. He has more to give and the England fans know it. He was given a very warm cheer from them when he was replaced by Toby Flood towards the end of the match. He just needs a bit more confidence.
I actually called that replacement, and my host will back me up. Owen Farrell had been struggling through most of the match but his try, and subsequent conversion, gave him confidence in himself. As a match average, a regular coach would have substituted him and brought on the more experienced Toby Flood to close out the game. I remember at the 2003 World Cup, Wilkinson was struggling during one of the knockout games. To bring him off would have knocked his confidence going forward, as it would have done on Saturday to Farrell. So, instead, in 2003 Mike Catt came on at Inside Centre instead to relieve some of the in-hand kicking duties and line-marshalling from Wilkinson. I suggested that they do the same as Twelvetrees was playing poorly and Farrell's confidence was beginning to build. I believe that decision showed a lot of maturity on the part of Stuart Lancaster and I was proud of myself for calling it.
Moving onto the forwards and the brothers Vunipola staked their respective claims for next year with outstanding displays at 1 and 8. Tom Wood showed maturity and understanding as he bounced back from all the media speculation over the England captaincy to put in a solid performance at 6. Then there's Chris Robshaw.
Since he was named as England captain, I have always championed his appointment. The only game I feel he hasn't contributed his utmost was last March against Wales. Since then, he has shown the reasons why he is England captain in the way he dealt with not going on tour with either the Lions or England in Argentina.
Then he goes and grabs a very bizarre try at the weekend. A try that was unusual in that it did not involve any forwards doing what they would normally be doing. From Billy Vunipola's charge down to Robshaw's positioning, they looked more like backs. Very pleased with that try. As I was with Farrell's try. A moment of brilliance (and luck thanks to Dylan Hartley) to spot the gap. He was surprised by the gap though.
The debutants Marlon Yarde and Joel Tomkins were certainly interesting and provide a good balance between experience and youth within the starting lineup.
Throughout all this there were a few negatives. Tom Youngs again could not sort out his lineouts and the ball rarely made its way towards either Yarde or Chris Ashton.
I'm looking forward to the next couple of tests, especially New Zealand. It will be a tough test as they will be out to avenge the record defeat 12 months ago but this England team is beginning to excite in the build up to the 2015 World Cup on home soil.
Let's start with the Man of the Match shall we? Fully deserved of the honour, Mike Brown had a game to remember. His incredible up-and-under followed up by picking the ball off the head of Will Genia was a joy to watch. A real contrast to the usual kick-and-forget rugby that we've become accustomed to recently. It was like watching Clement Poitrenaud, who I consider to be one of the best international fullbacks to have played, in the ingenuity of his game on Saturday. Special mention goes to the touch judge who didn't see how clearly Brown was in touch in the build up to one of England's tries. Although Cooper could have done better with that kick.
Talking of Quade Cooper, he is a mentalist isn't he? Great rugby player though. He plays with strength and flair. It's very rare to have a rugby player that can combine those two traits. His kicking left a lot to be desired and he seemed to attack Marlon Yarde without any reason to. He needs to control his temperament otherwise he could lose his spot. As my host for the weekend said, "If it weren't for rugby, he'd be in prison." If he carries on the way he's going, he might just end up there anyway.
By contrast to Brown, Billy Twelvetrees had a game to forget at 12. None of the excellence that he displayed during the Six Nations was on display against Australia. He has more to give and the England fans know it. He was given a very warm cheer from them when he was replaced by Toby Flood towards the end of the match. He just needs a bit more confidence.
I actually called that replacement, and my host will back me up. Owen Farrell had been struggling through most of the match but his try, and subsequent conversion, gave him confidence in himself. As a match average, a regular coach would have substituted him and brought on the more experienced Toby Flood to close out the game. I remember at the 2003 World Cup, Wilkinson was struggling during one of the knockout games. To bring him off would have knocked his confidence going forward, as it would have done on Saturday to Farrell. So, instead, in 2003 Mike Catt came on at Inside Centre instead to relieve some of the in-hand kicking duties and line-marshalling from Wilkinson. I suggested that they do the same as Twelvetrees was playing poorly and Farrell's confidence was beginning to build. I believe that decision showed a lot of maturity on the part of Stuart Lancaster and I was proud of myself for calling it.
Moving onto the forwards and the brothers Vunipola staked their respective claims for next year with outstanding displays at 1 and 8. Tom Wood showed maturity and understanding as he bounced back from all the media speculation over the England captaincy to put in a solid performance at 6. Then there's Chris Robshaw.
Since he was named as England captain, I have always championed his appointment. The only game I feel he hasn't contributed his utmost was last March against Wales. Since then, he has shown the reasons why he is England captain in the way he dealt with not going on tour with either the Lions or England in Argentina.
Then he goes and grabs a very bizarre try at the weekend. A try that was unusual in that it did not involve any forwards doing what they would normally be doing. From Billy Vunipola's charge down to Robshaw's positioning, they looked more like backs. Very pleased with that try. As I was with Farrell's try. A moment of brilliance (and luck thanks to Dylan Hartley) to spot the gap. He was surprised by the gap though.
The debutants Marlon Yarde and Joel Tomkins were certainly interesting and provide a good balance between experience and youth within the starting lineup.
Throughout all this there were a few negatives. Tom Youngs again could not sort out his lineouts and the ball rarely made its way towards either Yarde or Chris Ashton.
I'm looking forward to the next couple of tests, especially New Zealand. It will be a tough test as they will be out to avenge the record defeat 12 months ago but this England team is beginning to excite in the build up to the 2015 World Cup on home soil.
F1 Is Boring Now
I haven't watched an F1 race in full since Silverstone. It's a damning indictment for me, because I love the sport. It's not because McLaren are doing badly, it's not because the racing itself isn't incident-packed enough. It's because if Sebastian Vettel races, he wins.
I don't blame him or Red Bull, he's a great driver and Adrian Newey has designed yet another great car. I don't even blame the other teams for not being competitive enough or the tyres for being poor (even though they are). I can't even blame Sky, who have ruined Formula One for every UK-based viewer.
It's just the way of the sport. I still found the years when Michael Schumacher dominated interesting. It might be because there were still a few title challengers during those years, even though no serious contender materialised.
I actually blame Timo Glock. An odd choice of person to put the blame on but hear me out. If he hadn't equipped his Toyota with slick (or non-wet in those days) tyres towards the end of the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2008, Felipe Massa would have won the World Championship and it would have been just as exciting as every other F1 Championship. Except he started the last lap on those tyres. The rain had fallen for the previous three laps and created a river running downhill at the final corner.
As Glock made his way around the lap, the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton, on intermediate tyres, closed in but was unable to pounce due to the Toyota's superior grip on the dry straights. Hamilton needed to come fifth or higher to secure the World Championship. He was running in sixth. Massa crossed the line in first place and the Ferrari garage went mental in celebration. Then all eyes watched the screen in total disbelief as, on the last corner of the last race of the season, Timo Glock's Toyota loses grip on the wet surface and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren passes it to move into fifth position and take the Championship away from the Prancing Horse.
I can think of only two moments that can even compare on a sporting scale - Liverpool's Champions League triumph of 2005 and England's Rugby World Cup win in 2003. Both extremely nail-biting and exciting for both fans and neutrals. Many can point fingers at last year's Ryder Cup triumph but Golf is inherently boring so it has been removed. Special mention though.
As a result, everything pales in comparison. Many a football match has come and gone since 2005 and even more rugby games since 2003 but there haven't been enough F1 races. The 2004 Six Nations was disappointing to watch and I struggled to really get into the 2005-06 Champions League, despite the fact that Arsenal didn't concede a goal for over 1,000 minutes of football and contributed to one of the most highly anticipated finals in years.
I really hope next season is exciting, it should be. Raikonnen moving back to Ferrari gives them one of the most interesting lineups on the grid. The volatile Alonso racing alongside the man they call 'The Iceman.' Can't wait.
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