Once again the Sunday morning rugby headlines are
not positive; “England gain little in stumble to victory” (The
Telegraph), “England flatter to deceive” (The Times) and a superbly topical one
from The Rugby Paper; “Not posh for Becks and his boys”. Overall the
message is clear, England are again in the doghouse and despite the 31-12 score
line they have improvements to make before the All Blacks come to town. How do
I feel about these headlines and the match? Well once again I believe that the
headlines are a little harsh on England who for 40 minutes comprehensively
outplayed Argentina and did not let them into the game. Yes I agree that we did
not see 80 minutes of stupendous rugby however there were a number of positives
that should be spoken about and praised. Also let’s just remember that a
certain team called the All Blacks didn’t look their usual polished selves in
Paris yesterday either!
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| England's first half fireworks were promising |
Argentina certainly didn't have the best build up
to the match, losing their coach a week before and their captain to injury certainly
wasn’t ideal however you still expected them to arrive at Twickenham, cause
forward devastation and make life very difficult for England. Did that happen?
Well for 40 minutes no it didn’t; England raced out of the blocks and did not
let the beefy Argentinians into the game. Our new look front row of Joe Marler,
Dylan Hartley and David Wilson meant serious business and played with a huge
amount of physicality and intent.
The first half was also a time for redemption for a number of our England players in particular Billy Twelvetrees and Chris Ashton. Both men crossed over for tries and both will have felt a huge amount of relief and pride when they touched the ball down beyond the try line. Billy’s was a message to the world that he can bulldoze people, just like Tomma did to him last weekend, and that he deserved the faith that Stuart put in him. Chris’, well it was a nod to the Ashton that we all fell in rugby love with a little while ago, he took his chance and worked hard off the ball and now the debate will start in earnest as to whether he should start again next weekend.
The first half was also a time for redemption for a number of our England players in particular Billy Twelvetrees and Chris Ashton. Both men crossed over for tries and both will have felt a huge amount of relief and pride when they touched the ball down beyond the try line. Billy’s was a message to the world that he can bulldoze people, just like Tomma did to him last weekend, and that he deserved the faith that Stuart put in him. Chris’, well it was a nod to the Ashton that we all fell in rugby love with a little while ago, he took his chance and worked hard off the ball and now the debate will start in earnest as to whether he should start again next weekend.
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| Try Time |
Yesterday’s half time certainly wasn’t as exciting
as last weekend... both teams used their respective changing rooms and we did
not have a parade form our 2003 World Cup Winning Squad... is that the reason
why England didn’t quite have the second half that they wanted!?! From where I was
sat it seemed that Argentina woke up and England moved back down the gears and played it safe for the
second 40 minutes. It was almost in the
knowledge that our squad would need the energy and fire power for the full 80 next weekend and therefore were keeping a little bit in reserve. Now, before
you shout at me I’m not saying that our players didn’t want it, or didn’t have the pride to play in their shirt in the second 40, far from it, I’m simply suggesting that it was job done already and that the fireworks weren’t necessary!
Should Stuart worry? I think not... he knows his
team, he knows what they can do and he knows that they will produce the
biggest 80 minutes of this year's QBE Internationals and of their
rugby lives next Saturday afternoon. Owen Farrell's boot was ticking along again nicely yesterday and that is very good news, as every single point will
be precious next weekend. Stuart and his coaching team do have a few positional quandaries to think about this week; Joel Tomkins had a
solid day but didn’t set the world on fire and dare I mention again
the word ‘Winger’!?!? Here there are a number of questions to answer as clearly
Ben Foden does not belong out of position in the 11 or 14 shirt. Should Chris
Ashton start? What about the pocket rocket Christian Wade and will Marland be fit!? Finally a
font row conundrum to ponder on... Corbs, Wilson, Harley, Cole, Marler, Vunipola... answers on a postcard please!!
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| Some of next weekend's back line? |
Whilst the negativity continues the players need to
shut themselves away in the glorious grounds of Pennyhill Park and focus, the pressure is on and as ever it will all come down to 80 minutes of tempestuous rugby, at Twickenham Stadium next weekend. The chance to do the double over the best team in the world is absolutely colossal and
I cannot wait to see if we can do it!
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| Time for the All Blacks!! Repeat of last year!? |
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