So have the blazers got it right at last ? In essence, they
were on to a hiding to nothing. England’s woeful WC performances were all but
forgotten after the 6 Nations Championship. There was such palpable relief in
the Twickers crowd that a resurgent Welsh team didn’t beat them senseless that
they hardly objected to the Strettle try being turned down. After a lacklustre
Irish team was turned over on the last weekend, the ink was as good as dry on
Stuart Lancaster’s contract. To look beyond the caretaker coach would have been
seen as illogical (nothing new there) and unpatriotic (ouch).
Players such as Lee Dickson waded in with their support - but then again, he would, wouldn't he ? The previous regime didn't have our Lee anywhere near the top of the scrum half pecking order.
Like several others, I remain unconvinced.
Lancaster is addicted to sports psycho-babble on a scale not
seen at Twickenham since the dying days of the Andy Robinson regime. People
will indulge you when they think you know what you mean, even if they don’t.
But if your team starts playing like they don’t know what you mean…do you know
what I mean ? My suspicion is that the “new dawn” for English rugby is still
some distance away. Doubts remain over the side’s ability to create. When Charlie
Hodgson’s charge downs, and penalty tries gained against an Irish scrum locked
into reverse gear, are the only points gathered beyond Farrell’s trusty right
boot, then those doubts will remain. Lancaster’s side will go to South Africa
determined to “lay bodies on the line”, and to be “difficult to beat”. Against
a Springbok side that is busy rebuilding after several years under a coach who
seemed to distrust the turf within a stone’s throw of either touchline, I
can’t help but feel that attrition will be the order of the day. As Captain
Blackadder once noted, there will be a lot of casualties in a desperate attempt
to move the HQ drinks trolley 50 yards closer to Berlin.
Meanwhile, north of the border, Robinson keeps his job. No
new dawn there for our Scottish friends. Or for the players, who profess to
believe in the old Bath flanker’s methods, but who looked entirely unconvinced
in the final match against Castrogiavanni and his assorted legions. Cue more
psycho-babble, if only to cover the plain fact that the Scottish are too
mean/broke to pay Andy off…
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