A cure for insomnia? Watch England play
Roar Rookie By Josh Dutton, 18 Nov 2009 Josh Dutton is a Roar Rookie
- Tagged:
- Argentina rugby, England rugby, Rugby Union
England's Mathew Tait, left, and Jonny Wilkinson react on the podium after the Rugby World Cup final match between England and South Africa at the Stade de France stadium in Saint Denis, outside Paris, Saturday Oct.20, 2007. South Africa won the match 15-6. AP Photo/Matt Dunham
How many writers on here are insomniacs? A quick dose of England’s recent clash with Argentina should cure you.
It was a dour, ugly, match, a great advertisement for boredom and lack of imagination. It was a display full of pointless kicking, with mistakes at both set-piece and in general play.
Take one before bed. Be warned: alcohol will increase the effects of this medication (if it can be called medication).
Watching the England team run and kick (and kick, and kick) should provide a complete lack of stimulation to the mind, allowing it to both relax and unwind.
England’s forwards have used this before and it’s clearly worked for them after several lethargic performances recently.
If this medicine doesn’t work, seek out your doctor or Martin Johnson for another subscription.
You might also consider trying an alternative: England’s upcoming match against New Zealand. It should be nothing but one-way traffic for the All Blacks. So one-sided that it could induce enough boredom to put even Miles Harrison and Stuart Barnes to sleep.
Recommend this story.
- Explore:
- Argentina rugby, England rugby, Rugby Union
November 18th 2009 @ 9:29pm
Shahsan said | November 18th 2009 @ 9:29pm | Report comment
We will watch it when someone decides to play it again.
November 18th 2009 @ 9:36pm
sledgeandhammer said | November 18th 2009 @ 9:36pm | Report comment
The current England team were booed off Twickenham. By all accounts the game at Croke park was almost devoid of atmosphere. New Zealand played in front of a full house in Milan, and even the players were frustrated with the game, and saw it as an opportunity lost ( to promote rugby). There is a lot of hubris at the moment surrounding rugby based on good crowds and a lot of history and tradition. This in my mind is just papering over some pretty deep cracks. As someone said on another blog, despite all the fanfare when you actually watch a lot of these games, the emperor truly has no clothes.
There is no doubt the ELVs should have been trialled in full, damn the churlish politics of the Northern unions that stopped this happening. As I said when the ELVs were watered down and rejected, rugby will get the game that rugby deserves. Given the administrators lack of balls and innovation, in my mind it doesn’t deserve very much. Unfortunately rugby risks becoming little little more than an anachronism. I hope not. I love rugby, but then again I love test cricket. Unfortunately tradition can only take you so far.
November 18th 2009 @ 10:42pm
Viscount Crouchback said | November 18th 2009 @ 10:42pm | Report comment
The ELVs are a red herring. Rugby circa 2005 was in pretty good shape. The real problem is referees like Jonathan Kaplan going berserk every time a tackled player so much as even looks at the rugby ball. Whereas in 2005 the attacking team would be given a bit of leeway at rucks, the refs now resort to the whistle if the ball is not released within a nanosecond.
This is why teams are scared to run the ball. They know there’s a good chance they’ll be pinged if they do. And then some brutish kicker will nail a kick from the halfway line and the attacking team will effectively have been penalised three points for attempting to play a bit of rugby.
November 18th 2009 @ 11:31pm
Knives Out said | November 18th 2009 @ 11:31pm | Report comment
You miss the key point which is that during the trialling of the ELVs in the SH all the SH Roarers did was moan about how it inspired kicking rugby. If teams want to run the ball (like Ireland did recently) then they wont. Why don’t you write a letter to Robbie Deand asking why he has his team playing such bland, safety-first soup?
November 19th 2009 @ 2:33am
Alec Swann said | November 19th 2009 @ 2:33am | Report comment
As an Englishman, I am insulted that you consider my national team to be so poor.
They’re not that good.
November 19th 2009 @ 2:38am
Knives Out said | November 19th 2009 @ 2:38am | Report comment
You’re not backing England to win by 27 this week then?
November 19th 2009 @ 3:03am
GaryGnu said | November 19th 2009 @ 3:03am | Report comment
Josh,
I couldn’t agree more. The English were timid, lifeless turgid and uninspired. Despite all that they managed to score a try and win the game against a team playing four amatuers and many debutants. It was two hours of my life that I will never get back. At least I was at a nice pub watching it.
November 19th 2009 @ 3:15am
Knives Out said | November 19th 2009 @ 3:15am | Report comment
Who were these many debutants, Gary?
November 19th 2009 @ 6:57am
Knives Out said | November 19th 2009 @ 6:57am | Report comment
‘I don’t get Erinle’s selection. Why not play Erinle/Hipkiss with Tait? At least Tait has the distribution skills to give it to the wingers. He is also a very goo defender.’
Tait hasn’t been setting the world alight, Colin, and I suspect that Erinle’s bulk was the key factor.
November 19th 2009 @ 8:27am
Skip said | November 19th 2009 @ 8:27am | Report comment
Viscount the ELV’s were not a red herring. The excessive kicking started before the last world cup. Argentina and SA mastered it. England over the years have also used this affectivley. This strategy continued under the Elv’s I beleive due to the fact that a lot of coaches and players didnt really know how to play under the new laws.
Watching club rugby in Australia we saw a lot of running and innovation The succesful teams Sydney Uni and Brothers built this success on the back of very good forward packs.
Sledge is absolutley right we have missed a great opportunity. The ELVs were not the complete answer but as we can now do some comparision between the 2 rules it is pretty obvious which is better.
November 19th 2009 @ 9:26pm
Knives Out said | November 19th 2009 @ 9:26pm | Report comment
If you check the stats kicking increased greatly during the ELVs. Just because two teams kicked prior to the ELVs does not mean that excessive kicking was an issue then.
November 20th 2009 @ 7:28am
Parisien said | November 20th 2009 @ 7:28am | Report comment
it seems kicking will be excused, as long as it gets the win, but to win scoring several tries, open the champagne!
November 20th 2009 @ 7:27pm
Alec Swann said | November 20th 2009 @ 7:27pm | Report comment
Knives Out – Whatever optimism I had a couple of weeks ago has evaporated.
England have two hopes- Bob and No – of beating New Zealand this weekend and Bob’s gone on holiday.
November 20th 2009 @ 9:35pm
Knives Out said | November 20th 2009 @ 9:35pm | Report comment
Did England ever have a hope of beating NZ? Not in this lifetime. Even with the big boys of 00-03 they always seemed to scrape home against NZ. Bloody talented Kiwis.