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.
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