As Clint Eastwood’s iconic character Dirty Harry once said “You’ve got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?” Well do ya punk?
Were England lucky against Ireland? Was it a one-off like the All Blacks performance of 2012?
Joe Schmidt the kiwi-born Irish coach said it best “We got beaten up” he also sensed a lack of energy emanating from his squad in the lead up during the week, which was in stark contrast to the energy levels he noted leading up to the All Blacks Test in 2018.
England were not lucky, it was their sheer brutal physical dominance and determination which heralded their convincing win over the Irish, and not just at the coal face, it was laden across the park from 1 to 15, especially on defense, which John Mitchell deserves immense credit for.
English rugby scribes have hailed the victory as England setting a marker down for their World Cup glory. A marker was put down to an extent, however as the Irish know all too well, you don’t need any extra motivation for the “big Test matches.”
England’s credentials for a World Cup glory this year should be scrutinized far more introspectively this weekend when they take on France at Twickenham.
The French have been on the decline now for a number of years (the Top 14 I believe to be the sole cause for this, but that is a debate for another time).
The vaunted French flair is nothing but a distant memory, and over the weekend they utterly conspired against themselves to lose to Wales, while many pundits and fans alike feel that victory for England this weekend is a foregone conclusion and perhaps it is.
However if England want to be considered legitimate World Cup contenders, they will back up last weekend’s performance with a similarly authoritative execution this weekend.
The French players should be filthy with themselves and I expect them to turn up at their old enemies ground with a healthy appetite for confrontation and sense of purpose.
France might have had the heaviest pack in Rugby history over the weekend, but that counts for nothing when you see the final scoreboard and France’s outright calamity in blowing a 16-point lead after halftime.
Head coach Jacques Brunel needs to derive as much creativity and desire from his squad for them to have any chance of upsetting the English.
France are directionless in game management at the moment and Brunel has to find a way of creating a winning mentality if France are to get back to their halcyon days, ultimately however it is the responsibility of the players to evoke their own sense of self belief.
Beating England this weekend would go an extensive way to getting the foundations of a winning mentality.
What should be an English victory by all presumptions, a deeper sense of introspection in their performance will highlight whether the Roses mean real business in Tokyo later this year.
Like Dirty Harry, he was lucky, due to the fact he created his own opportunity for luck, as England did last weekend, let’s see if luck or legitimacy is founded on Saturday.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
Every 6 Nations team also has a number of players born in England. In fact, you could pick a very handy 23 from England-born players selected in other 6 Nations squads. I presume your PI England players is based around the Vunipolas who have been in the UK since they were small children; Tuilagi who's been there since the age of 12 and Cokanasiga who's been there from the ripe old age of 3.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Ha ha...dont ya love stats. Every PI in the north is a rugby player then?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yeah tis a shame we can never travel that toughest path...disappointing.????
somer
Guest
If the quality of rugby improves in one area of the world at the direct expense of another area of the world, then yes, this is an obvious problem. A problem you're no doubt well aware of but you'd rather play the disingenuous baiter, as per your usual modus operandi.
taylorman
Roar Guru
And likewise, nor is the NH benefitting from NZ rugby necessarily a good thing. A point you found amusing at Muzzos expense. Two can dance to that tune,
somer
Guest
The ABs have fielded very few front-line players pillaged from Pacific Island schools, I can only think of Sivivatu, Fekitoa, Frizell and Fifita, and only Sivivatu has had a long AB career. Conversely, all the home unions have poached multiple SH players who were already mature pro players while in the SH. The Pacific Island teams are also filled with NZ born, bred and developed players so by numbers the Pacific Island teams are the biggest pillages of talent. I'll also add that NZ's population constitutes about 7.5% Pacific Islander, relative to about 25% composition in the top AB 23 - a statistical discrepancy of ratio 3.3. Then you have England's top 23 which has about 15% Pacific Islander composition, relative to the fact that Pacific Islanders comprise <0.001% of England's population - that's a statistical discrepancy of ratio 15,000. A ratio of 3.3 to 15,000, that must be comparable right?
Boomeranga
Roar Rookie
Would / could their run in be any worse if they came second in the group? A harder 1/4 final I guess, but then perhaps an easier semi.
Kane
Roar Guru
No you still need to lock up top spot. A loss to France then can put you to second
Uttley Balls
Roar Rookie
Or 36
Uttley Balls
Roar Rookie
Like I said England 36 points better than France (without Itoje) they can rest (rotate) players against Frane and Argentina without any real group stage fear. Use the Quartera as a warm up And then get down to the real business on the last two weekends.
David
Guest
There’s no chance Eddie will go back to Australia. He’s contracted with England until 2021 (after 2019 he’s going to be involved in a more director of rugby position as a new head coach comes in), and Australia can’t buy him out. Furthermore, why would he want to go back to Australia? Some of the comments made on here are laughable. You’d be mighty hard pressed to find any successful coach anywhere who’d want the Australia job with the state Australian rugby is in.
Englishbob
Guest
At the time of writing England has beaten France 44-8 I believe the score was. Personally I thought the Irish game was always a better indicator to RWC, away venue hostile crowd against a top team etc, but it's so far out from that still I think these performances and the now likely English 6N title (two points ahead with the two easiest home games to finish the tournament, Wales have a harder run in) should be viewed a little bit in isolation from the RWC. plenty of time for injuries. Wales traditionally are slow in last few RWC year 6N because they train throughout the 6N and have previously lost games they maybe shouldn't have due to this. Not taking them lightly and with all due respect to the opponent's England should probably be 70/30 favourites in Cardiff. Playing wales, and in Cardiff, doesn't bother this group, Wales have lost 4 on the bounce to England now and have been below their best thus far. NZ are still the top team as it stands but face three teams (SA ENG IRE) who are capable of beating them in the RWC. As for the England can't produce their own product, maybe when NZ rugby stops pillaging South sea Island schools they'll have a bit more authority on that, the only tier one nation that is almost always entirely home grown is SA
English twizz
Guest
If England and France both beat Argentina then can change whole team as already would off qualifyed for last 8
adastra32
Roar Rookie
Think I need to re-calibrate my expectations (downwards) regarding the quality of some contributions.
FunBus
Roar Rookie
The point is a fairly obvious one. Muzzo suggested that the only reason the NH sides (which include England) are improving is because of some impact of ‘Kiwi’ players. What are you struggling with?
Kane
Roar Guru
None of them are being talked about as title contenders
Jacko
Guest
neither can Argentina, france and Aus....thats why its not easy winning a WC
Kane
Roar Guru
They can’t afford to lose either of those games.
adastra32
Roar Rookie
Of the England 23 on duty this weekend, all but four of them are born and raised in the UK. The Vunipolae moved to the UK as youngsters where they leaned their game. Only Nathan Hughes qualified through residency. And your point is? Apart from trolling?
Uttley Balls
Roar Rookie
They’ll be able to rest players against Argentina and France Come to think of it – against Australia as well