The QBE Internationals are a
huge event in the international calendar for England, they kick start the ‘New
Year’ with a bang and set the platform for the following 6 Nations. This year
and in 2014 they are even more important given the proximity of the forthcoming
home Rugby World Cup. The build-up to the fixtures starts
almost as soon as the Summer Tour ends and picks up pace around October; it is
the time of year when every single member of the rugby world shares their
opinions regarding squad selection, the Captaincy and the most effective starting
XV. As soon as the EPS Squad is announced the dust settles
slightly and the players go into training camp to put in the
essential preparation before taking on the best in the world. This is the point at which we find ourselves at
today and with a little over a week to go before the first International against Australia it was an appropriate time to
attend the QBE Debate.
 |
| The QBE Debate at News Times HQ |
QBE have been the sponsors of the
Autumn Internationals since 2011 and every year they host a pre-series debate,
this is something that had previously slipped under my radar until last night!!
The venue was The Times HQ in Central London and the debate was led by Stuart
Barnes who had the task of leading and controlling an extremely distinguished
panel and audience of over 100 guests. The panel consisted of Stephen Jones;
The Times Rugby Correspondent for 30 years, New Zealand legend; Sean Fitzpatrick,
Australian legend; David Campese and two England legends; Martin Bayfield and
Lawrence Dallaglio. With 312 caps and a couple of World Cups between them we
were certainly in safe hands and anticipating a healthy debate.
 |
| Two of the distinguished panel members (Image |
Naturally the focus was on England and their
chances in the forthcoming QBE Internationals and beyond, it is fair to
say that with 2 years to go before a home Rugby World Cup the next 25 days are
perhaps the most important in the tenure of Stuart Lancaster. Interestingly the
panel made the point that since Sir Clive Woodwood’s reign things have been a
little disjointed with the changing of management. Instead of one coach
building on from where the other left off, each individual came in and tried radically
changed things for the better. The superior option would have been to build on the success of
Sir Clive’s time like New Zealand did when Steve Hanson took over from Sir
Graham Henry. It was noted that Stuart Lancaster has and is making big inroads however one question that was left lingering in the air was ‘have we given him too much to do?’
The panel had quite
strong views regarding England’s chances this Autumn and for 2015 and it may or may not surprise you to
know that the collective opinion was that England are a way behind where they
should be - this was in the context of physical conditioning and performance levels. Lawrence and Martin were slightly more complimentary than the rest
however we certainly weren’t being given 'media censured’
answers. The question marks over England of course won’t be resolved at The
Times HQ, instead Stuart Lancaster and his men will need to answer them out on
the field on 2nd, 9th and 16th November. If things go extremely well this autumn then
the momentum and psychological advantage that it will give to our squad will be invaluable as the core group of players that we have now will
be the same group, potentially bar one or two, that will be playing back at
Twickenham in 2015. However we have all seen the form that the All Blacks are
in and no-one is under any illusions, this won’t be a walk in the park, but if
England can pull off the remarkable and dare I say it gain 3 wins from 3, then
everything will get very, very interesting.
 |
| Can England replicate that win again!? |
The reason why I haven’t given the game
away fully regarding quotes from the panel and answers to the audience’s
questions is due to the fact that the debate will be featured on a full double
page spread in The Times on Sunday and on The Times QBE Internationals micro-site. Personally I think that breaking news before The Times is a little risqué
and therefore I shall leave it to Stephen Jones and the team to reveal all on Sunday.
Once again it was another superb
night in the rugby calendar and I must say a huge thanks to QBE and The Times
for hosting. It isn’t too often that you get to enjoy chatting away at a champagne reception with Martin Bayfield, Sean Fitzpatrick, David Campese and Lawrence Dallaligo
now is it?! The stage is set and the preparations are well under way and with today’s
Captain’s announcement we will be one step closer to the 2014 QBE Autumn Internationals.
The message from the QBE panel was clear, these forthcoming Internationals are
extremely important for England; they need to step up and be counted for now in
order to generate and build the momentum needed to take on the biggest test that any team can face; a
home Rugby World Cup in 2015.
