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In defence of England's failed World Cup

Roar Rookie
5th October, 2015
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Sympathy? For England? Really? You're having a laugh. (AFP PHOTO / Michael Bradley)
Roar Rookie
5th October, 2015
15
1217 Reads

I don’t want to take anything away from the magnificent performances of the mighty Wallabies or the impressive Welsh, but England have been a victim in this Rugby World Cup.

Several months ago, sitting in my local pub killing time between the Hurricanes’ demolition of the Brumbies and the Highlanders’ gutsy win over the Waratahs, my mates and I found the odds for the World Cup.

All Blacks favourites? Check. Were Ireland or South Africa second favourites? Nope. England were.

We couldn’t believe our eyes. Surely it was a misprint?

Then the build-up to the tournament began. warm-up games would surely show why there was so much praise being heaped upon England.

An edgy, 19-14 victory over the French at the fortress of Twickenham first up – but new combinations were warming up, so nothing to see here.

Then they lost 25-20 at the Stade de France. Plenty of excuses (referees, the grass, etc) so maybe there was nothing to worry about.

Back at Twickenham and a solid, 21-13 victory over the Irish surely proved there was something to all this talk.

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The press were getting to fever pitch – there was nothing more certain than an All Blacks versus England final at Twickenham.

Despite the Fijians putting up a good effort, England got the bonus point and some confidence in their 35-11 opening match victory. England did what had to be done, but I certainly wasn’t pencilling in an English romp for the rest of the tournament.

Next up was the speed bump of Wales, fielding a second-string XV. The rugby press almost seemed sorry for the Welsh, with suggestions England could get a bonus point. The English played quite well in patches but on the whole Wales deserved the win.

Then the press began doggedly talking up the English team again, discussing all the horrible, painful things they were going to inflict as they steam rolled over a hapless and dim-witted Wallabies side. Had I missed something? Was there some technical aspect of the Wales game that I failed to understand? Were the Wallabies really going to be flogged?

Sunday morning (AEDT) I was nervous. Here was apparently the second best team in the World Cup, with their backs against the wall and full of fight. Would we get within seven points and keep our dream alive for another day?

I won’t go back through the game because – as you all well know – the Wallabies defeated the English on their home turf and bundled them out of their World Cup.

Why had so many experts missed what was obvious to someone like me? The English were never the second-best side in the World Cup, so why had they been put forward as such?

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The last time the English won the Six Nations was in 2011 – before the last World Cup. The 2015 Six Nations came down to a points difference of just six points, but credit where it’s due, Ireland were reigning back-to-back Six Nations champions. It can’t, therefore, have been form which saw the English rise to second favourites for the Cup.

Home ground advantage may well have been the sole reason they were elevated to such lofty heights. I mean, it saw New Zealand home in 2011, so it must have been playing at home which won them that tournament?

The English team were one of the youngest tier-one sides in the 2015 World Cup. Against Australia (another team on the younger side) the England starting line up had 464 international caps between them to Australia’s 740 (although to be fair, Adam Ashley-Cooper does account for about 500 of those).

The All Blacks took over 1000 caps onto the field against Argentina. South Africa fielded their most experienced side ever against Japan – okay, that might not be a valid point to make in this line of reasoning.

The point I’m making is that with such a young side, surely it wasn’t experience that was making people think England would win the Cup?

It’s all a moot point now. As the English sulk off to Manchester for a game that will no doubt contain more than its fair share of booing and be somewhat under-attended, I feel sorry for the players. Unreasonable and unfounded expectations were thrust upon a side that had neither the experience nor talent to fulfil them.

They played well at times, could have beaten the Welsh and the Wallabies if a few things had been different, but that’s the way it goes at this level. If anything, I’m surprised they got so close to getting out of Pool A.

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I’ll leave you with one final thought. Perhaps all the pressure, trash-talking and over-confidence was actually a South African plot to divert attention away from the embarrassment of being beaten by Japan in the opening round? Or maybe I’m wrong.

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