There was a former England coach, a former England captain, and one of the best and most respected rugby broadcasters in all Christendom. All, by sheer coincidence, either texted or phoned within the space of an hour, and all, it seemed, had reached a breaking point and wanted to vent off the record, piling into the game they once loved and desperately want to love again.
The sheer paucity and mind-numbing boredom of the weekend’s rugby – Newcastle v Sale headed the roll of dishonor but the Autumn Cup also got shoeing – was the immediate cause but in all three cases it had been building for months. It had started with a miserably poor Six Nations back in February and March before the tournament was interrupted.
It was a real canary down the coal mine moment. If they collectively were at breaking point the flame was in real trouble.
In roughly descending order the list of things they wanted to be eradicated was the ‘fecking caterpillar’, box-kicks, offside from box-kicks, the jackal having to do so little to earn a penalty, offside in midfield, kick tennis, forward passes, not being able to touch a scrum-half who has suddenly become a protected species, off your feet at rucks and forward passes. Regular readers of this column will already know my complete concurrence with all of the above.
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin December 06, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye The Rugby Paper dergisinin December 06, 2020 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
England can find a little bit of cheer
SO HERE we are on the final day of England’s autumn international series with all of us hoping and expecting Steve Borthwick’s team to win today after three weeks of bitter disappointment.
Stop messing with Marcus - Campese
DAVID Campese believes England are going backwards under Steve Borthwick, who is ‘messing around’ with talisman Marcus Smith.
Being a Lion was the highlight of my career
I PLAYED 19 games and scored 219 points for the Lions, on the tours to South Africa in 1968 and New Zealand in 1971, but I never played in a Test and that was fair enough.
Cook's crew not fazed as they eye tilt at top half
THERE appear to be few signs of second season syndrome at Westcombe Park as captain Nick Cook reveals the group aren’t even contemplating the threat of relegation and are instead targeting a top-half finish.
Forwards pack a punch for the Reds
OLD Redcliffians produced a proud defensive effort to take a bonus-point win.
Tom 'Ailes' the achievements of inspirational skipper Riley
SEDGLEY Park No. 8 Tom Ailes says his team relish the competitive nature of National One and is confident the Tigers can rectify their rocky start to the season in weeks to come.
Strachan confident Ampthill will be firing again soon
FRASER Strachan is determined to put Ampthill’s leaky defensive showings behind them and gain some much needed confidence in the run up to Christmas.
It's a whole new ball game for Rigg
WILL Rigg’s ambition was to become a professional cricketer but it is the oval ball rather than The Oval that is his driver now.
Scarratt leads the way for Lightning
LOUGHBOROUGH won a wet and windy East Midlands Derby after having the bonus point in the bag by half-time.
Becconsall: We need to release pressure
WILL Becconsall says Exeter are not spooked by the threat of relegation as they look to turn around their Premiership campaign after starting with six straight defeats.