Led by a charismatic coach who has tournament winning experience and tactical insight. A man able to formulate a plan yet allow for situational adaptation and intuitive action.
A team that has growing maturity and confidence with unity at its core allied to an indomitable mindset.
A group of coaches and players who avoid cliched responses and platitudinous commentary.
Seemingly at ease with themselves and their fans who support them passionately but without aggression.
On the other hand, there is England’s football team.
There has been one game, England dominated the football game and let one in right at the end for an undeserved draw, this after winning every game in qualification. I would still expect them to go through.
The rugby team have a new Aussie coach and all is well, but they failed ignominiously at a home World Cup less than a year ago. The Aussies will be wringer in the next 2 tests.
Wringer?? Stronger!
Great post, Fin – that’s a really good description of how England Rugby come across now, and I especially enjoyed the observation about the players and coaches avoiding ‘…cliched responses and platitudinous commentaries’; Hartley, Farrell and, of all people, Haskell, were all excellent post-match yesterday. I’ve always regarded Haskell as The Meat-head’s Meat-head, but yesterday he was a complete revelation: calm, modest, insightful, un-boorish, at ease with himself – I was really pleased for him.
And his game has just got better and better under Jones; before, he was a player whose regular inclusion in the team I could never understand; now, I think he’s become a massive and very reliable asset. Good for him.
Jones is not only the master strategist and tactician that you describe (the Burrell / Ford / Farrell switch was inspired), but also clearly a superb judge of men, and thus a great leader.
Lancaster did a brilliant job in spotting and developing the talent pipeline when he was in charge of the age-grades, and Jones has readily acknowledged that he inherited a wonderful legacy, but it’s been his experience, his smarts, and his Aussieness that have taken that group of players to an entirely new level. England yesterday were astonishing, and I was the most agog, thrilled and impressed I’ve been in watching them since 2003.
A personal bitter-sweet thing for me, though, in watching England of the last couplethree years, is seeing three of No.2 Son’s former U18 South-West England team-mates, and also several of his London Irish Academy training-mates, doing wonderful things at the highest level of the game. My lad was an excellent talent (and the SW England coaches’ odds-on favourite to make it into Lancaster’s full England U18 squad), but unfortunately at that time he had an unhelpful maturity-deficit.
So every time I watch his former peers playing out of their skins on the international stage and being hailed as the future of England Rugby, there’s a little voice inside me which says “…*sigh*, if only, if only”.
Can’t wait for Melbourne though!
Agree on Farrell. Had my doubts on same grounds as yours but is maturing into a world class payer and leader. His partnership with Ford seems to be developing too and the latter deserves praise for a consummate display after a run of poor form and the attendant criticism.
Agreed re Ford, good point – especially impressive given that the loss of form has been attributed to his father’s situation, which (as far as I know) has yet to have a happy outcome.
The Haskellator?
You might have missed this during the 2011 World Cup, but it was a constant stream of amusement.
https://artofdomination.wordpress.com/2011/10/10/the-secret-diary-of-james-haskell-iq-25-12-date-10th-october-2011/
I take your point, although I do wonder how much better the England football team might be if NZ, Australia, SA and the Pacific Islands produced more footballers who subsequently qualified for England. I would also expect the England football team to do better if over 40 % of the people in the world who are registered players of the game at any level were English.
That would be the Pacific islands that produce a large proportion of the Aus and NZ teams as well…
To clarify: not having a pop particularly. Just seems to me that nationality is a particularly indistinct item in the world of egg chasing. Not that long since half the Scotland team consisted of Kiwis who weren’t good enough for the All Blacks and 2 Kiwis switched from Bradford Bulls league to union and played for England (it was particularly strange to me to see Lesley Vinokolo in an England shirt).
Also, for years English football has had access to a vast hinterland of those of other British or Irish ancestry and, in recent years African Caribbean heritage. And who knows in the future, the untapped skills that are likely to lie in the South Asian communities.
That’s true, but irrelevant to my point. I’m referring to the fact that people with no family or long term residential connections can rock up and play international rugby after a seemingly very short period of residence.
Even the ECB has recently extended the period of permanent residence for anyone wishing to play cricket for England from 4 to 7 years.
True enough, but there is still a difference with a system whereby people can seemingly qualify if they can produce an Oyster card.
And whilst they have been a great source of talent, the pool of people of West Indian and Irish ancestory is very small in terms of world football.
I think it is too early to pass judgement on the English football fans. Let’s see how Russian fans behave in the rest of the group games – the reports I hear are that there was extreme provocation in Marseille and at the ground the Russian fans charged the England fans which is why Russia is in the dock. As for the team I thought they played well yesterday and but for the wrong man marking their target man we would have come away with a win. Before the game the pundits mentioned our back four as being our achilles heel and they were certainly our undoing in injury time last night.
To sum up for English sport; in rugby, the abhorrent, violent behaviour is on the pitch, whereas in football, it’s off it.
The English fans lost at fighting as well, which is even more shameful.
IT WAS A DRAW!!!
Hodgson seems closer to a Lancaster than Jones.
No clarity on strategy or tactical decisiveness.
A nice man but not a winner.
Cruelbutfair.
THREAD HIJACK: NZ vs Wales
I’ve just caught up with the highlights of this and yesyesyes I’m several glasses to the good but my God, ber-luddy hell, WHAT a match!! Wow!!
Any fans of either side care to venture an opinion?
Just saw very brief highlights package but it does look an amazing game – and let’s not overlook Ireland’s heroics against South Africa especially as it was achieved with fourteen men for most of the match. Not a bad day for the Northern Hemisphere.
On Junior’s re-match thread I said I hoped for an England win. And lo it came to pass 🙂
Melbourne will be monumental!
I thought England played really well the other night, and were unlucky to concede. Following each of the last few tournaments, everyone always said how we need to sweep out the old guard, and bring in young, fresh, exciting players who are in form. Well that’s what we’ve got now so enjoy it.
I’m not sure but I think this thread is about the winning mentality Jones has brought to the Rugby team, a ruthless edge and tactical nous.
In he first half, the Football looked great. Round pegs in round holes. Once Russia started to play and then we scored, Hodgson sat on his hands. By then, all of the front three were ineffective and had been for some time. My bet is Jones would have brought on the Premier League’s best striker on the break, Vardy, and freshened up one of the wide men well before Rooney ‘tired’.
Maybe. I don’t watch rugby so I’ve no idea.
@Jim Cain
Quite right re your comment on young exciting players. I’m just waiting for the inevitable media backlash when we do eventually go out (whenever that is..) on why didn’t Hodgson go with more experience? We’re a work in progress and I hope we go as far as possible.
Ahem…that’s @ Jim-cain
Or not.
Morning everyone!
Perhaps after this morning’s events in Hamilton we should have a new thread comparing the Welsh rugby and football teams.
That’s the series win then! Great stuff. I hope Rooney and co were watching and will draw some inspiration from it.
Great wins by both teams.
The rugby side won by tremendous grit and determination. Their defence was superb, as was their kicking from hand. There was enough in attack from the forwards to score points. Could they beat The All Blacks? Maybe, with a favourable wind, but the backs will have to improve.
The football side were lucky. The equaliser was very fortunate. If it hadn’t have come off Williams’s head, Vardy would have been offside. Apart from Sterling’s miss in the first half, they didn’t create many clear cut chances. Dier and the two central defenders were solid. Walker and Lallana played really well. Sturridge got his reward for being brave enough to run at defenders. Other than that, I was unimpressed. They’ll get turned over by a decent team in the quarters.
Cahill and Smalling looked solid only because Wales hardly bothered attacking. Robson-Kanu spent his game in a purely defensive mould, and their only attacking idea seems to be ‘give it to Bale’. It’s a huge worry that they appear to be the best centre backs England have available, as neither of them has ever looked remotely convincing to me.
I took it as a given that being solid against Wales is different to being solid per se.
Rooney is getting a lot of plaudits but he’s only doing well for a striker playing midfield. His long passes are ponderous and well telegraphed, achieving little. There are better actual central midfielders in the squad but the captain will always play. The biggest disappointment for me (Sterling has been useless for a long time) is Ali. He’s done nothing. Yet.
The football team is through to the knock out phase. Given more teams go through than don’t, it’s not saying much.
Like Lancaster, Hodgson is still tinkering, still unsure what his first team should be. Why it should be that team and how it should play.
The one player that has impressed me is Dier who seems to know what he has to do and does it.
The whole team should be like that but it isn’t.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and stumble through. Surprising everybody. Like Greece did. Or Denmark.
I want to be wrong about England and Hodgson but I don’t see a plan, a cohesion or an edge.
When I look at Jones and the England rugby team, I do.
The rugby was frustrating from the Aussie side obvs. Most of the possession, England spending the whole night tackling / defending but ended up winning.
Admittedly Wallabies lacked the flair to be less predictable but yeah disappointing.