Mike popped up on our post yesterday with this comment:

I was very disappointed with all the rugby served up this weekend.
As a Welshman I’m absolutely devastated with the way our game has gone after so much hope in 2008,
but I just think it is the way the game is going today.
Teams are scared of running and so we see all this aimless kicking which is killing our game.
What do you think the future is?

Well, it’s a comfort that England are not the only guilty ones.

This is a real blot on the rugby landscape at the moment.

Sure, good tactical kicking has it’s place.

But, boy is it overused and poorly executed at the moment.

Some teams are worse than others but none more so than England.

To some extent, the now-defunct ELVs had a bad influence in further encouraging this behaviour.

But it’s time to take action.

My preferred remedy is for a scrum to be awardable to the opposition if they cleanly receive a kick on the full, valid from the 22 up to the 10 yard line or even the halfway.

Other options include:

• Extending the mark ability up to the 10 yard line or halfway
• Allowing the opposition, when cleanly taking a kick, to kick to touch and have the throw in
• A variation on the scrum solution whereby the opposition get a scrum from where the ball was kicked

But here’s the rub. We don’t want to rein in kicking completely. A huge raking touchfinder can be a thing of beauty. And no-one wants to remove the thrill of a succession of Garryowen’s raining down on opposition full-backs in a swirling wind at Lansdowne Road.

Here are some thoughts from others:

Peter Bills in the Irish Independent

Robert Kitson in the Guardian

Dave Stewart’s thoughts over at SA Rugby Referees

Forwards:

Matt Banahan (Bath Rugby), Danny Care (Harlequins), Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks), Ben Foden (Northampton Saints), Shane Geraghty (Northampton Saints), Andy Goode (CA Brive), Dan Hipkiss (Leicester Tigers), Paul Hodgson (London Irish), Ugo Monye (Harlequins), David Strettle (Harlequins), Mathew Tait (Sale Sharks), Mike Tindall (Gloucester Rugby), Richard Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon).

So, no more rumours –  the four players at the centre of the allegations in New Zealand have been named (allegedly) as David Strettle, Danny Care, Topsy Ojo and Mike Brown.

Three Harlequins, three new boys and one relative newcomer.

The revelation earlier in the week that David Strettle was the energizer bunny had seemed to place him elsewhere at the time of the alleged incident with the unknown gruesome foursome but now it seems he was here, there and in and about everywhere.

We’re all hugely disappointed.

If it were you, having been given a chance that most can only dream about, would you not be desperate to prove yourself on and off the pitch as someone who was made of the right stuff?

What’s wrong with people these days?

What’s wrong with their expectations and their standards?

Thinking of professionalism as a whole, the continued disappointment of the national football team on the pitch, and their appalling standards off, is this is what the money of professionalism does (to English players)?

For f*ck’s sake…

So, Strettle’s the energizer bunny.

It’s a good thing that this has not happened on Johnno’s watch (or not his full-time watch, at least).
It says all we need to know about the old regime including Rob Andrew.

Johnno can come in and instill discipline.
He can say that if you want to be an England rugby player then these are the standards.
The alleged lapses in standards from Barkley over the years and Strettle and these four others are unacceptable.
That way lies the continued lack of success of the England football team.

You live like Neil Back / Jason Robinson or you’re out simple as that.
With the odd exception, you live like a monk.
You don’t fit in, you’re out.

For Christ’s sake, they get 8k a match with a 3k win bonus.
All that’s asked is that they behave themselves for the few years that they get to wear the shirt.