I Did Say This Would Happen

I've been gathering my thoughts after the past few days since England lost to Wales, reading as much media coverage as I can to get an angle on the defeat and to be as impartial as I can be. It's proven difficult, but here goes.

Well done Wales.

Ok, now that's the impartiality out of the way, let's move on to why England lost, because Wales did not win that match. They were not the better side. The game should have been beyond them after the fist half. What is with this England team and their inability to play the full forty minutes of a half. They seem to get to thirty and then give up, as if they've already won! It happened in the first half with very little consequence but then it happened again, with disastrous results.

Last year, I went to Twickenham and watched England beat Wales in a fairly one sided affair. This is not a 'great'  Welsh side. It's good, but not Grand Slam potential. England, however, are nearly there. In Chris Robshaw they have a captain who has the highest work rate of any player I've seen for a long time and fantastic decision making. I've read a lot of articles explaining why England should have kicked the penalty at the end of the match rather than aim for touch. They're all wrong.

The argument for three points bases itself on the guarantee that Farrell (or Ford who had come on at 12) would have made the kick. Admittedly, I cannot fault Owen Farrell's kicking on Saturday, it was very impressive, but that's a big if from that position far out on the right hand side of the pitch. The decision to go for touch shows Robshaw to be a winner. No matter the outcome, he did not want to take a draw or a defeat. He wanted to push for the victory. This is why he's a good captain.

England were shambolic for twenty minutes on Saturday and it cost them the match. If they can string together eighty minutes of solid rugby rather than take their eye off the proverbial ball against Australia then they just might be in with a chance of a win.

Might

England Laborious In World Cup Opener

This is England. This is the World Cup. This is our time.

That's the rhetoric coming from the English changing room, from the adverts on our telly and from Sir Clive and Johnny in the ITV studio. I love it. International sport is the highest quality you can achieve and can watch. It's amazing, it's brutal and it's emotional. England displayed none of it today.

Disappointing, uninspired and laborious are the best ways to describe England's opening win against Fiji. Many will point to the extra point that comes from scoring four tries over 100 minutes as a good thing. I will point to the awful number of penalties conceded (eleven) and the ridiculous amount of turnovers Fiji made (also eleven).

Let's start from the front. The front row had a good game. But yet again Tom Youngs showed just how poor he is at the line out. The locks were, as usual, faultless. Parling and Lawes were strong in the line out, strong at the breakdown and strong in the scrum. I believe the second row is by far and away our strongest position. Back three had a great game but really struggled when presented with ball in hand. They need to improve in that area, so badly.

Moving back a bit, the half-backs did their job as ever but I still don't think George Ford is the man to lead England to the final. Nor do I believe Owen Farrell has the fizz to own that number 10 shirt that hasn't been properly taken since Johnny. Cipriani would have been better but I'm past making that argument, but it turns out my complaints are falling on deaf ears.

You want to know the areas where England are the most vulnerable? Midfield. Barritt conceded a couple of ridiculously basic penalties at the beginning of the second half and Joseph (barring a comical setup to the second try) did nothing to justify his selection.

The wings also seemed to struggle. May out on the left showed his pace and verve with Watson grabbing some great high balls but found it tricky to make any real ground. They will improve and they will grow as the World Cup goes on and it will be a real test to see if they can go the distance.

Mike Brown. I think everyone knows just how incredible a full back he is. He reminds me of Clement Poitrenaud in his prime. Just amazing. If his name isn't etched into history in the same breath as Josh Lewsey after this six weeks are up, there's no justice.

At the end of the day, it was Fiji running out of steam that gave England the bonus point that they didn't deserve. They need to be better. They will be better. Swing Low!