England could finish anywhere.

With a whole big pot of luck, they could win it.

With an average run of luck and injuries, they could finish somewhere between third and fifth.

With a poor run, they could conceivably finish last.

Wales, Ireland and France have all got to be favourites in their clashes against England, regardless of location – on recent form, they have to be.

The Scots are almost resurgent under Andy Robinson – a man who knows all too well the stale England gameplan and the inept team of coaches.

Even Italy are a team who must surely one day claim the scalp of this once great team.

Three or four defeats out of five is by no means out of the question.

After his review with the delusional Rob Andew, the BBC reports what can only be a lack of either honesty or judgement from the England hierarchy.

The former England fly-half claimed that Martin Johnson's side were far better than the one "hammered" 28-14 by Australia and 32-6 against New Zealand a year ago.

Was he watching the same games? For us, the trio of autumn internationals at best revisited the depths plumbed in previous autumns for the past three or four years.

Whilst the majority of the media leapt upon the fact that, against NZ, Jonny Wilkinson made a couple of crappy runs rather than even crappier kicks, the more balanced view from Joe Rugby Public was that the horrid day had taken brought more of a balance to this uneven match.

Even that previous stalwart of judgement and honesty Martin Johnson has erred badly under pressure:

Johnson, England’s 2003 World Cup-winning captain, has hit out at the “almost hysterical” criticism of his team and coaches John Wells and Mike Ford.

We think, after four years of stagnation and rising ticket prices in the face of declining quality, the public has every right to be hysterical while a succession of talented seconds-in-command of failed to deliver under pressure whilst the same backroom boys continue to steer a ship towards the abyss, totally neglectful in their ability to provide a framework for success.

In our opinion, the public and the media have been very restrained and remarkably analytical in their reaction to the continued lack of both entertainment and results, identifying Wells, Ford and Callard as the most likely architects of doom in conjunction with the abysmal law changes.

Johnson was elected for honesty but he has been tarnished by the in situ hierarchy above and below.

Rob Andrew must go. We are sick to death of this non-entity with his glib, valueless delusions and his utter lack of impact and judgement.

Ian McGeechan is the man who must be installed as hands-on head coach to bring the enjoyment back to the English game with Martin Johnson to continue in the MANAGER role in which he was appointed.

Only Clive Woodward has the strength of character to step into the Andrew role and bring a new broom to this tired and stale institution and implement the fresh ideas that McGeechan will bring.

Lukewarm on the heels of the famously delusional England head coach Andy Robinson (a la England cricket coach David “we flippin’ murdered ‘em” Lloyd), Rob Andrew is the latest to fall into a delusion, this time of alleged improvement and competitiveness.

"We have closed the gap considerably when you look at what happened last autumn, when we were outplayed in both games against them," he said.

Hmmmm. Maybe.

Or….

Maybe it was a combination of a) law changes and b) bad weather.

Thanks for coming in Rob.

Just reading Ian McGeechan’s autobiography Lion Man.

I recommend it.

McGeechan is so renowed for his coaching that it’s easy to overlook what a good player he was (and he stopped playing before I can remember watching much rugby).

However, there’s one passage where he describes his coaching philosphy:

"I believe that when you put new players in or a relatively new team together, you've got to be pretty direct in your coaching; you have to give them a framework, and a thinking and an understanding, because if you haven't got one mind, and one overall idea of what you are trying to do, that's when you fall between two stools. Once you've got that base right, once you've got all the basics, you can do anything; you can mix and match and that's where the decision-making and the talent shows, and then bring the best out of each other... 

And when all else fails, what's the plan? Go forward, and win the contact. If you do that, you will probably win."

Now how relevant is that to the past six years of England rugby?

As Graham says, it should be coaching bread and butter (shame Graham doesn’t write more articles for the blog).

Sadly, as predicted on these pages:
I think however that we will see a fairly routine victory for New Zealand by 12-15 points. I expect England to stay in touch for fifty or so minutes before the superior class of the All Blacks sees them pull away without really getting out of third gear.
Time needed for a full assessment but this was a very dreary, very poor performance.

New Zealand. Land of One Tree Hill, lamb, Russel Crowe and of course, the incomparable New Zealand All Black rugby team. Now, if there is one team that a fragile England do not want to face, it is New Zealand. If it was France pitching up tomorrow I would be certain of a home win, such is England’s capacity to upset the French against the odds. But New Zealand? Forget it. Whilst England have at some time managed to hold dominance over all other nations, they have never managed it against New Zealand. Even at their 2002-2003 peak, England could muster only only two narrow victories against the All Blacks. This England team are far from any kind of peak. The stats don’t lie. England have never beaten New Zealand in a World Cup match, their win ratio against New Zealand is less than 19%, over the last 10 tests between the two sides the aggregate points score is England 138 – New Zealand 290. Ouch. Yes, England are truly New Zealand’s bitch. Why? Are New Zealand just inherantly better than England? What makes them so hard for us to beat? I think partly it is because we just don’t play them enough, and when England do play them, they don’t just play the team, they play the myth, the aura. Deep down they don’t believe they can win. Can this change tomorrow? Well, there is some crumb of comfort for England that this All Blacks team are not vintage, but they are still capable of putting 30+ points on the red rose. After a week of stinging criticism of coaches and players, there is no doubt that Martin Johnson will have put a rocket under his troops. I hope so, because if the management cannot get the team up for this match then we might as well turn out the lights at Twickenham. There is also no doubt that the recalled Joe Worsley will bolster England’s defence. Worsley is a tackling machine. Just as well because he will be doing a lot of it once that funny dance is over. Simon Shaw will bring much needed aggression, bulk and ball carrying to the front five and so the pack does not look too bad. It is sad though that Tom Croft is demoted to the bench. England’s blindside was poorly defended against Argentina, but the coaches must find a way to integrate Croft’s talents into the side. If they don’t it is another black mark against them. It is in the backs and as usual, the gameplan, that England look in trouble. Surely the tactic of using Erinle as a battering ram will not work against a team of New Zealand’s calibre? But how can England give themselves a chance? Well, the cardinal rules against New Zealand are:
1) Do not kick aimlessly to their back three
2) Do not give away cheap turnovers
3) Do not kick aimlessly to their back three
There is no team on the planet better adept at converting turnovers or punishing poor kicks. No problem then, seeing as Wilkinson is kicking so well from hand and Erinle is reknowned for his boot… If England kick, they have to make sure either they make touch, or the chase is organised, fast and frantic. The breakdown is the other area where New Zealand regularly slay England. The All Blacks are past masters at slowing down and killing down opposition ball. Call it cheating, call it being smart, they just know how to bend the rules and get away with it. It is no coincidence that it is in matches where a ref reins New Zealand in at the breakdown that they struggle. So, England have to make sure that when a player goes into contact, there is a team mate there immediately to help them. They have to make sure that players hit rucks with the ferocity of the damned to clear out All Black poachers. If they do this then maybe they can get to the hour mark and still be in touch. If so, then pressure will mount on Graham Henry’s men. It is all a tall order, and one that I feel is simply beyond this combined current England setup. There is a worry that if New Zealand start well that the wheels could seriously come off the chariot and we could be in for humilation. I think however that we will see a fairly routine victory for New Zealand by 12-15 points. I expect England to stay in touch for fifty or so minutes before the superior class of the All Blacks sees them pull away without really getting out of third gear. Oh, and that man Carter to score a try.

The pressure on the England coaching regime is getting serious. England legend Josh Lewsey has waded in with a scathing attack to match his famous Matt Rogers tackle: “Mike Ford didn’t win anything, while John Wells never played international rugby. Wells’s achievements as a coach are terrible – what justifies these people keeping their jobs?”
What indeed. The coaches meanwhile have hit back. Brian Smith says there is no problem between his ideas and those of John Wells: “We’re a united ship on a common path. There are no issues there whatsoever.”
Really Brian? You sound like a bit like the lookout on the Titanic. Jonno must shoulder a lot of the blame for this worsening fiasco. He agreed to this coaching team. Meanwhile, supremo Rob Andrew is silent, although apparently he will be holding another of his famous reviews at the end of this misguided campaign. Watch out Jonno, the head man might be expendable but the trusty Lieutenents are bullet proof!

After the latest team announcement, all I now need is for the RFU to sell the naming rights to Twickenham and my misery will be complete.

“And a warm welcome this afternoon to the Nike Rugby @ Twickenham Stadium to watch England vs the All Blacks.”

The selection of Erinle at inside centre guarantees that, apart from a couple of inside passes to Cueto hitting the line from fullback, the ball is going to get to 12 and no further.

To be fair, despite Geraghty at 12, in the past couple of games the ball wasn’t exactly being fired out wide but here is England’s colours nailed firmly to the flagpole.

Where are the game breakers?

We have the cutlasses but wherefore art the rapiers?

Not to mention Richie McCaw and the rest of the All Black backrow who are going to have a field day playing against three blindsides.

P.S. In light of RWC 2011, are we going to gain more from Shaw playing who will be 38 then or might giving Courteney Lawes some game time have been a more prudent forward-looking policy?

I really enjoyed the game on Saturday.

Why?

Because my money was on Argentina. With the weather forecast looming and knowledge of England’s poor out of hand kicking, I viewed the 5/1 on offer as fair game and well it proved. I laid off mid-game at 5/2, job done.

And thank goodness because without the added financial incentive, the game was utterly depressing from an England perspective.

Matt and I were at the game three years ago when we lost to Argentina at Twickenham under the gloom of the Andy Robinson years. Gloom that was perceived then as short-lived. However, except for a brief run in the RWC 2007 (very brief, mind, who can forget the depths of the pool games), this England team have gone nowhere, done nothing.

The list of complaints continues. It’s tempting not to reiterate as they’ve nearly all been said before but:

• Where’s the joy and spirit which should come with pulling on the white jersey?
• Where’s the white jersey?
• The continued poor kicking out of hand?
• Whither the rolling maul?
• On-field leadership?
• Steve Borthwick?
• Louis Deacon?
• All forwards other than Lewis Moody?
• The backs?
• Wings playing full-back?
• Quick ball?
• Playing the game as you see it?
• Looking to the bench for instructions? WTF?
• Do they practice any backs moves?
• Ford?
• Wells?
• Callard?
• Rowntree?

There is something rotten in the state of English rugby.

How hasty have we been with the likes of Ashton and Robinson? Good second-in-commands who should not have stepped up to the position of first receiver. (How ironic would it be for Andy Robinson’s Scotland to claim an English scalp in the coming Six Nations?)

No-one doubts having Martin Johnson in the picture, but he should not be head coach. We called for the heads of the two above, we called for MJ to be installed. A man who would cut to the chase. Are his hands tied? Does he know what is wrong?

We now call for action again.

The three amigos have to go – Ford, Wells & Callard. Maybe more.

Again, we have to ask the question where does Rob Andrew fit into all this? We question the whole hierarchy. The entire RFU.

If their role is to create a conveyor belt of young talent, what good if the conveyor belt dumps them into the pit of joylessness which seems to be international rugby with England.

This has to stop or an entire generation will be lost.