Once a policeman, always a policeman

When I started this blog in 2007 there was a Rugby World Cup scheduled, in France, and my trip to Bordeaux was documented, as were other aspects of the event. England you may recall got thumped by South Africa in their group game, were panned by the press, had a player revolt and eventually reached the final where they lost again to South Africa.

This year England stuttered through the group stages before they lost yesterday to an average French side in the quarter finals. To describe the French as average may be heaping too much praise on them, only their performance against Wales in the semi final will see whether I am being fair or not.

One expects French teams to have you on the edge of your seat every time their three-quarters get the ball. Alas that has not happened for a number of years as constant rule changes have seen the space on the field condensed into narrow corridors of opportunity which are swiftly snubbed out by brick outhouse size players.

Consider the game today when Australia beat South Africa. South Africa had 74% of the possession and Australia made a whopping 147 tackles in the game, that's nearly two a minute.
It was exciting but for totally gladiatorial reasons. There was little running rugby in the match.

England, of course, can't play running rugby. They are often starved of the ball by the opposition and the good sides use that superiority to run England ragged. Ireland in Dublin this year, New Zealand and South Africa at will, and now France.

The boys do go out on the lash occasionally in reverence to the old game of rugby which I and my peers played, but unfortunately the British press, particularly the red tops, are less inclined to reminisce about the good old days. Its a game for today and sadly England are a team for yesterday.

The coach Martin Johnson has not yet fallen on his sword, and with the RFU without a CEO and CIO equivalent, there is nobody to unsheathe it for him. Rob Andrew is a chartered surveyor by trade. You would think he would be able to identify the structural damage which the Johnson era is causing to the English game.

He indicated in his press conference that this group will get better as they are a young side. I suspect Cuerto, Shaw, Tindell, Thompson, Deacon, Easter, Moody and Wilkinson will be flattered by such accolades. There were young players Johnson could have picked, but he builds a team in his own (public) image, dull, grumpy, unimaginative and uninspiring. Move over and let someone else have a go. The game is still the low point of a day out at Twickenham, it needs to change