England were a cynical disgrace against the All Blacks
Columnist By Spiro Zavos, 1 Dec 2008 Spiro Zavos is a Roar Expert
- Tagged:
- All Blacks, England, referees, RFU, rugby
The performance of England (6) against the All Blacks (32) at Twickenham was one of the most disgraceful and cynical I’ve had the misfortune to watch.
England were fearful of a hiding of Springbks proportions at the hands of the NZers who were chasing a Grand Slam. So they tried to ensure that as little rugby as possible could be played, and to test the referee to penalise them continually while he endured the pent-up, stupid wrath of the home crowd.
To his credit, Alain Rolland, an Irishman and a former first class halfback, had the courage to defy the baying of the crowd while he awarded 15 penalties against England, to 7 against NZ (four of them in the first few minutes of the Test). He also sin-binned four England players and warned England that more of them could be sin-binned (‘every one of you, if you continue to do what you are doing,’ he told the captain Steve Borthwich).
Danny Care, the halfback, a jersey-puller and feisty thug, could easily have been sin-binned several times, as well.
All Blacks were held back. They were elbowed. England played off-side deliberately. They dropped the scrum was often as they could. The mystery to me was this: why not use all this energy to play some rugby and try to defeat the All Blacks rather than try not to lose by too many points.
To a certain extent the tactics worked. It was not until the 60th minute that the All Blacks got a strangle-hold on the match after smashing England in a scrum, winning a tight head and then moving the ball along the line for a brilliant try scored by Mils Miliania.
I read the English experts to see what they thought about this disgraceful insult to the game. The Usual Suspect while conceding that ‘England forgot the laws, or the referee’s interpretation at least’ (I get it, the the referee was to blame), supported the disgrace by arguing that ‘this match was better for England.’
Paul Ackford, a former England second-rower and a rugby writer I admire, while acknowledging that the cheating as damage limitation ‘had some merit’, went on to make the point that ‘if this England squad is reduced to serial illegality just to keep in contention then that is a pretty damning indictment of their rugby prowess.’
I would go much further than this. The England game plan is a revealing indictment on the attempts by the Rugby Football Union (the England rugby union) to remain an arbiter of the laws and practices of rugby. How the RFU can oppose the ELVs on the grounds that they take the structure out of rugby (whatever than nonsense means) while condoning its national side not to play within the laws of the game is something that is impossible to comprehend.
Also, Ackford was generous enough to call the All Blacks ‘this wonderful team’ and the ‘best side on the planet by a distance.’
‘It was a pleasure,’ he said, ‘watching them deliver their lesson.’
As the All Blacks were part of a Tri-Nations invasion that lost only one Test to the northern hemisphere powers, it is obvious that the southern hemisphere way of playing rugby and understanding of the zen of the game is infinitely superior to the northern teams (with the exception of Wales).
And this applies, one would think, to how the game can be improved with improved laws.
Recommend this story.
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- All Blacks, England, referees, RFU, rugby
December 1st 2008 @ 7:41am
Arky said | December 1st 2008 @ 7:41am | Report comment
The 3N dominance is obvious. When taking into account the reality of playing away for the 3N teams the single loss is an indication of extending dominance in the professional era. Wales are to be admired – better to dare mighty things than to take the course of the English. England’s response is disappointing – surely an indictment on Johnson’s mighty reputation. It will be their greater loss in the long term…
December 1st 2008 @ 7:48am
ulysses said | December 1st 2008 @ 7:48am | Report comment
Too true Spiro. But the snipe at your bete noir is un-neccessary – see the very good article he also wrote this weekend fully admitting and explaining why the Southern Big 3 are so much better at rugby.
December 1st 2008 @ 9:15am
van der Merwe said | December 1st 2008 @ 9:15am | Report comment
I find it odd how undernourished, small, fake Bakkies Botha managed to throw a punch at the English 7 and not be yellow carded. Imagine if a Schalk Burger did that. Cited for the first 7 weeks of the super 14 next year?
Also, I disagree with the 4 yellows, make it a red and get done with it.
December 1st 2008 @ 10:47am
oikee said | December 1st 2008 @ 10:47am | Report comment
What a damm mess. Improved laws my arse. I try to sit down to a international game of rugby and get dealt this crap. The game has had over 100 years to get it right but we are dished out this as a so-called test series. Big pot-bellied rugby board is milking this baby right to the end. If this keeps up my interest in the world cup will be lost. Spiro, make a phone call, do something. How much are they going to pay Geteau, 10 mill, what a bloody waste. Weak Cattle, all of them except the All-blacks.
December 1st 2008 @ 11:02am
Bruce Rankin said | December 1st 2008 @ 11:02am | Report comment
Spot on Spiro. Likewise Paul Ackford’s article in this mornings SMH. I watched the game on Setanto Sports with 3 Kiwi mates and could not believe the blatant, deliberately negative spoiling tactics England used without a care for the laws of the game. The saddest thing was that they probably realised they were beaten before they went onto the park, couldn’t play positive constructive winning rugby, therefore resorted to whatever manner of thuggery and illegalities they could get away with.
I just hope for Martin Johnson’s sake that he didn’t send them out with that game plan. I thought he was better than that.
December 1st 2008 @ 11:11am
Colin N said | December 1st 2008 @ 11:11am | Report comment
As an England fan, I was very disappointed tbh. I agree with the indisciplline issue but I think it’s harsh to call it spoiling tactics. What’s annoying is that England were competitive for the first 20 minutes but indiscipline allowed New Zealand to get a foothold in the game and dominate.
Most yellows were deserved but some were not, or at least the referee should have been consistant. He would penalise England for one thing and not New Zealand for the same offence. New Zealand for a lot of the time were constantly lying on the wrong side, which stopped what slow ball we rarely had.
Anyway, Haskell was stupid, Rees counted the cost of repeated England infringements. However, Flood’s yellow was very harsh.
December 1st 2008 @ 11:26am
James Mortimer said | December 1st 2008 @ 11:26am | Report comment
As the poor performance of international referee’s has been spotlighted, it was refreshing to see Rowland do his upmost to try and force the English to play rugby. Three of the four yellow cards were very deserved. While the fourth based on that high tackle may have been unfair – by half time Rowland was actually going out of his way to look for the English infringements.
Compare this to Thorns mini brain explosion where he all but punched a player in front of Rowland, but only suffered a ten metre marching where as I believed it deserved a instant yellow.
But at the point the All Blacks were playing (in Rowlands view) like angels, and even when they themselves starting falling over at the ruck, at this point Rowland’s evil eye was focused on the men in white.
This shows that the best team in the world is not only based on personal and gameplans, but also the team that can interpret the referee most effectively.
This is where McCaw and his team have clearly learnt this year.
It was tactical brilliance that mid way into the second half, the All Blacks began infringing exactly as the English had all half, but were smart enough to do it in a way not to be penalised by Rowland.
This of course, built the ire of the commentators and the English.
McCaw was not viewed highly by this rugby viewer in October last year – but in my opinion he is far and away the best rugby captain on the planet, combined with the most effective coaching team.
December 1st 2008 @ 11:35am
Colin N said | December 1st 2008 @ 11:35am | Report comment
James, that is why it is so brilliant when the All Blacks are penalised.
I know this has got a going over quite a bit but in the RWC quarter-final second-half, New Zealanders complained that France conceded very few penalties in the second-half of the game, so people assumed that the French were infringing but the ref didn’t pick up on it. No one praised them for ‘getting away with it.’ Surely France did what New Zealand did yesterday and got away with it, no?
I stated before the RWC that if a referee picked up on the All Blacks infringements (in he sense that he gave the borderline decisions the other way), that they may go out.
December 1st 2008 @ 12:02pm
ohtani's jacket said | December 1st 2008 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
The All Blacks played an absymal first half and began infringing themselves when England had them under pressure. The only positive rugby I saw was NZ cutting loose after they had an unassailable lead.
December 1st 2008 @ 12:07pm
James Mortimer said | December 1st 2008 @ 12:07pm | Report comment
Colin N,
I think I was quite possibly the only kiwi that never complained about the performance of either the french or barnes in that ill fated game. Both then and now, the All Blacks have a good enough team and coaching staff that they should never concede a game based on officiating.
OJ,
I couldn’t agree more regarding the AB’s poor first half. A rugby team such as the All Blacks will very very rarely ever be outplayed, so the best way is to get in their faces and push the envelope of the law.
Very positive the way they responded and eventually won though, yes?