Why Faith in England Will Be Rock Bottom After Autumn Internationals

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 7, 2014

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The curtain is about to go up on England’s final dress rehearsal with the Southern Hemisphere big guns before next year’s World Cup.

In under a year’s time, they will be battling for real against the best in the world to lift the Webb Ellis Cup.

The coming four weeks represent their last chance to benchmark themselves against the best in the world.

But how much does it actually matter?

In an interview with BBC.co.uk this week, retired Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll made the point that beating these teams outside of the World Cup doesn’t make for a sign of greatness.

He evidenced Ireland’s last World Cup campaign, in which they beat Australia to win their group and went out in the next round with defeat to Wales, which made beating one of the world’s traditional powerhouses futile for that group of Irish players.

Here is where O’Driscoll and English philosophy part ways.

English rugby is still in thrall to that glorious year of 2003. Not just the World Cup win, which was essentially secured by a team just about to teeter over the highest point of its upward trajectory and come crashing down to earth, but because of what happened earlier that year.

Their summer tour before the World Cup took them to New Zealand and Australia for one-off tests against both countries.


In a rain-soaked Wellington, Martin Johnson’s men throttled the far-more talented All Blacks. Jonny Wilkinson kicked his goals, an English six-man scrum held firm and history was made.

A week later they swaggered into Melbourne and blew Australia away with an altogether different brand of rugby.

Tries were scored by free-running backs, the forwards drove rolling mauls upfield as though the Australian pack was nought but an empty shopping trolley and Josh Lewsey put in the kind of hit on Mat Rogers that will populate...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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