Roger Alton
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Home advantage always helps and the rediscovery of the Twickenham roar, when HQ was in danger of becoming a cemetery, has been immensely important. Stuart Lancaster, who is turning out to be a hugely impressive leader, has done an impeccable job of re-engaging his players with the nation and with their own history: from making them write on their jersey what it means to them, to putting the names of every other player in that position above the pegs in the Twickenham dressing room, and parking the team bus in the car park — an idea he nicked from Toulon — so the players have to walk through the crowd.
Are all Lancaster’s replacements good enough? You don’t win a World Cup with 15 players (the All Blacks won the last one with their fourth-choice fly half) and Lancaster is developing a rich squad in more or less all positions. When Marlon Yarde and Christian Wade are fit, there is clearly good competition on the wings, and the back row, too, with Billy Vunipola and Tom Croft to come back. There are worries about the hooker, though (replacement Tom Youngs can’t throw or hook, which could be a worry), and scrum-half, where Danny Care has been a revelation, but Lee Dickson less so. And it’s a pity George Ford has only had a few minutes so far as Owen Farrell’s understudy.
Hurrah for Ireland, though! They were worthy winners, but will the milking of Brian O’Driscoll for one last season be damaging? The Six Nations winners now only have a handful of matches to blood a new centre partnership, and Gordon D’Arcy is starting to look his age.
And here’s a thing, as football starts to flood the back pages again. During the England-Wales game, the BBC idiotically decided to interview footballing show-offs Joey Barton and Robbie Savage at half-time. They said how impressed they were by how hard the players collided. They could have added how they never go to ground in simulated pain, how they shake hands and call the referee ‘Sir’, how the players accept decisions or how the crowd applauds when an injured opponent is carried off, and how rival fans can be trusted to sit next to each other and drink while watching their sport. Truly a civilised game.
Because you read about rugby
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