The shambles that was England at RWC 2011

Well what a disaster that was.  You’d think we’d be used to it after years of following England, but this world cup has plumbed the depths.  Maybe we were spoilt after 2007 and really, we didn’t deserve to be in the final.  We’ve probably had this coming for a while, well now it’s arrived.

Home time lads, see you on the flight

It’s difficult to know where to start with these as there were so many things that were wrong with England’s world cup campaign.  I’m not going to dissect every last one of them as quite frankly there are more experienced, in the know people who have already done that.  I’ll pick out a few points that I feel need addressing – from a supporters point of view.

If you want a fuller reaction then I’ve read two very good reports – one from Brian Moore (love him or loathe him he writes very well) in The Telegraph and the other from Tom Fordyce on the BBC.

The RFU

Let’s start at the top.  Well, for starters we can’t really as there is still no CEO in place.  Whilst he is only acting in the role, Martyn Thomas is still the power at RFU HQ.  I’m sure he’s done a lot for the game that has gone on unseen, however for the supporters it seems that he and the RFU really haven’t done much to improve the senior team.  Will Carling famously described the RFU Committee as “57 old farts” and on the face of it, it feels that not a lot has really changed.

 Many of my points in this blog are going to come with a line similar to “we need fresh thinking, a clean sheet and to start again”.  This is true to the RFU – get some new people in at the top of the game who can take England rugby in a new direction – because the current one isn’t working.

Also – what has Rob Andrew done since he was appointed, made redundant and reappointed?  It’s not just the personnel that need replacing, it’s the whole structure - with Rob Andrew one of the first people out of the door.

The Manager

As a player Martin Johnson was one of the greatest and would always be considered in a best ever XV – that’s a whole other blog post just there.  However as a manager he hasn’t lived up to the high standards he set as a player.  Through their world cup campaign there have been issues both on and off the field that have been troubling all concerned.

From his past (and lets face it, general appearance!) you’d expect Johnson to be a stern disciplinarian in the mould of Sir Alex Ferguson.  Yes, rugby players like to have a beer after a match and in no way would I want that tradition to end.  However, lads, you're in a world cup, you're professional athletes and in this day and age - everyone has a camera in their pocket!  Johnson loyally stood by his troops and defended them to the hilt - we don't know what was said behind closed doors but I can hope it was something along the lines of "sort yourselves out" - but with more profound language.  However from the reaction of the players I'm not 100% sure anything like that was said at all.

Did the England players encounter this Johnson ?  I think not

Will he stay or will he go?  I want him to stay but I think he'll go, which is a shame as I feel the people above him are ultimatley more responsible

The Coaches

John Wells and Mike Ford have been at the helm for far too long.  The RFU made a massive, huge fuck up when they didn't hire Shaun Edwards and stuck with these two.

Shaun Edwards wanted the job but the RFU wouldn't agree to his terms of doing it part time - fools!

The forwards haven't looked as dynamic as any other top class team.  They're English forwards of old, big lumbering oaths with the skill set to match as soon as they put on the England jersey.  That was fine in 1991, not anymore!  All the top teams in the world have flankers that can get down and do the dirty work and steal the ball - except England, and it shows.  The most annoying thing is that there is massive potential there - their club form points to this.  So why can't they do it for England?  Well, I think we all know why.  Do the decent thing John, stand aside and let someone else have a go.

England had been lauded as having a strong defence and it's true in the group stages they didn't give away too many trys.  But not once in the group games against Argentina or Scotland did I not sit nervously on the edge of my chair waiting for them to go over for a try.  France proved how easy it is to score against us.  Thank god we didn't have to play Wales, Australia or NZ who score tries for fun against better defences.

The once great tackler, Wilkinson last gasp tackle to try and stop a soft French try

The other two - Brian Smith and Graham Rowntree - just about escape criticism.  The scrum was pretty good though hindered by Sheridan leaving injured - so well done Graham.  In attack England looked pretty woeful and for this Brian Smith should be out on his ear but I can't help feeling that he's being hindered by the determination of others to play forwards rugby.  For this, in a new set up I say he should be given another chance.

The Players

I've already had a rant about the discipline off the pitch so I won't go there again.  Discipline on the pitch almost cost them two games in the group stage.  They improved in the QF, just.  Louis Deacon running from a blatant offside position to make a tackle epitomised the whole tournament.  The infringements that the England team were committing didn't give the referee a chance to give them the benefit of the doubt - they were so blatant it was infuriating!! 

Now we're at the end of one world cup we need to shed off anyone that's not going to be playing in 2015 and start building anew.  This means losing:

Andrew Sheridan
Jonny Wilkinson
Mike Tindall
Lee Mears
Lewis Moody
Nick Easter
Shontayne Hape
Thomas Waldron (not that he ever played in the first place)
Mark Cueto
Simon Shaw (though he's pretty much retired anyway)
Steve Thompson

Lets put more youth in the team - they're going to lose some matches to start off with but thats part of the learning curve.  Let's make sure that they're well bedded in and ready to perform come RWC 2015.

Time to give these lads a go?  England U-20 squad winning the 2011 U-20 6 Nations

They also need to take responsibility for themselves.  Please, please, please don't go the same way that premiership footballers (well, nearly all professional footballers) have and become complete cocks who are overpaid and think they rule the world.  I hope they've learnt from this campaign and when future campaigns come along they put the learning into practice.