RWC: England regressing the game – c’mon The Boks!
Columnist By Spiro Zavos, 16 Oct 2007 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
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I never thought I’d ever utter the words, or write them down but here goes: ‘C’mon the Boks!’
Why? Because at least they are a team that plays with a bit of width, from time to time, and with good athletic skills. They play rugby, that’s why.
Rugby has evolved since the 1860s when the Rugby School old boys broke away from an Association (‘soccer’) of other Public School old boys who had set up a football game. The Rugbeians wanted to keep hacking (rucking) and handling. So they broke away from the Association and drew up the laws in 1861 (I think) of a new type of football game which they named after their old school, the Rugby Football game.
The point about this historical digression is that England have taken the game back to a type of football game. They’ve kept the hacking but have essentially given away the running with the ball, relying on kicking mainly and the occasional fluke try (from kicks) for their scoring.
A very interesting post analysed England’s game and came to the conclusion that their mindset is an 80m field. From about 20m out from the opponent’s try line England try to win kicking opportunities, like a football team. Put this way, we see that what England have done has been to regress the game to the days when it was a football/handling game rather than the modern handling/football game.
No wonder most of the British press wants nothing to do with the Stellenbosch Laws. If implemented, perhaps not all of the laws, the general thrust of the game would be towards a rugby game rather than an England-style football game. Remember it was only two weeks ago that Eddie Butler was writing in The Observer that ‘England rugby is rotten.’
The England game with the present complicated laws – and with a sympathetic referee – allows a strong defence and no attack to present a formidable challenge to any side. And this is what England has done in the finals.
Needless to say the obnoxious Stephen Jones has been in his element in all of this – denigrating the Wallabies as con artists and the All Blacks as over-pampered and soft. He has been touting the superiority of the European club system with its endless tournaments and grim, introspective play as a superior rugby product to the exuberance and joy of rugby of the Super 14.
If only to shut up this Basil Fawlty-like nonsense, please God let South Africa win the 2007 RWC tournament. There, I’ve said it again.
By Spiro Zavos
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October 16th 2007 @ 11:27am
Mick Roche said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:27am | Report comment
Temba, you should not comment on a game you clearly know nothing about…John Eales was a Legend of the game and deserves alot more respect than you give him….Futher bagging…what’s wrong? bad loser perhaps.
October 16th 2007 @ 11:29am
Alphonse said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:29am | Report comment
Hear, hear Mick. Eales, a legend with a capital ‘L’…
October 16th 2007 @ 11:30am
Sundo said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:30am | Report comment
England are sure playing ugly, but they’re also playing to their strengths & limitations. What do we expect them to do? If it were a normal test match, I too would be struggling to keep the remote in the holster, but these guys are playing for keeps, & the tension keeps me enthralled. I detect a rosy whiff of sour grapes in many posts about England. Personally I find a lot to like about them, especially their determination. The contrast with the soccer world cup is profound. I don’t remember too much being written about teams ruining the game with their playing style (apart from the spectacular dives) – the emphasis is on the result. In World Cups, rightly or wrongly, that is all that matters. I’m still shedding the odd tear into my Steinlager, but I don’t begrudge the Poms their acheivement. Good luck to them.
October 16th 2007 @ 11:31am
Temba said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:31am | Report comment
Sam this years S14 should be good to watch after this RWC, lots of unfinished business for some. The teams here in Aus and NZ need to get cheerleaders.
October 16th 2007 @ 11:32am
Damian said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:32am | Report comment
True enough Andrew, but England are there because they won a mental game. They didn’t play better rugby and they didn’t even have a very water tight plan. They were fantastic at the breakdown and had a great kicker – and that’s it. These are the only eggs they had in their basket. It’s just a credit it to them they they got right behind this and played together. They won two matches by two points that they probably should have lost had the teams they were playing turned up mentally. This is all South Africa need to do, and I’m not saying that it is as simple as that. Two or three seven pointers and someone who can get close to parity with Wilkonson’s kicking and I think we’ll see England beaten convincingly. The boks are much better in the forwards than Australia and they are just as punishing when the field finally opens up a little. This is the type of rubgy I want to see and it’s why they deserve to win. Rugby is an invasion game – the try line is there for a reason, not just to mark the end of the field. If England’s tactics are so great why don’t they win more than they do? It’s just that now they’ve got older heads and that’s a huge advantage in the mental part of the battle. But come the GF, England will pay for ignoring the breadth that a rugby team must have. Australia have already paid that price for not having it in the forwards.
October 16th 2007 @ 11:35am
Colin D said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:35am | Report comment
I agree with Mick’s first comment. After watching the Back Page and Rugby World cup show last night on Fox Sports, I’m flabbergasted by the aussie journo’s reaction to England’s success at the RWC. Sport is not about huge scores, just look at how boring the AFL final and the Aus-NZ rugby league test were. England have played to their strengths and won tightly fought games that were fantastic to watch from a suspense point of view.
If you don’t like rucks, mauls and drop goals – stick to watching rugby league – the most one dimensional show on earth.
October 16th 2007 @ 11:36am
Nigel Lopez-McBean said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:36am | Report comment
Sometimes I wonder whether we are still talking about professional sport the way that article reads.
Professional sport is about winning. It’s hard, ruthless, tactical and you need the ability to execute in the high-pressure situations.
The facts are this: England has delivered on a game plan they hid from no one, not the Australians or the French.
There is not a single person who watches rugby who doesn’t know how the English are going to play but so-called better teams have failed to meet the challenge.
England has offered a challenge “If we are so rubbish, so one-dimensional and lacking in world class…..beat us.”
It’s that simple. All the current talk about the death of the game etc is an emotional crutch for those who in the simplest of terms have failed in their professional responsibility to meet a (fairly basic) challenge. Australia was exposed for its lack of fundamentals and France was beaten by a team who optimised the hunger and physicality that makes rugby the wonderful sport it is.
England have stepped up like World Champions should and all I now hear is whinging. The battler sprit is well and truly alive…but not in Australia.
The old phrase is ‘No guts, no glory’….Australia and NZ could learn much from this English team’s naked hunger and pride in the shirt.
October 16th 2007 @ 11:36am
Temba said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:36am | Report comment
Mich, I never doubted the mans skill as a rugby player but that prediction sounds more like a wish to me, not really something you blast out to the media when you are in his position. Its makes you look like an idiot when you get it wrong.
Simple enough
October 16th 2007 @ 11:37am
Mick Roche said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:37am | Report comment
Nigel….Spot bloody on……
October 16th 2007 @ 11:40am
Temba said | October 16th 2007 @ 11:40am | Report comment
Have to say this is the first time I semi agree with Nigel, they have shown more heart and that is what the game(RWC) is all about. Everyone was cheering the Pumas and they never get the ball past 12.
It’s a world game and not every country plays league style running rugby.