Six Nations Prediction

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 – [...]

Andrew must go

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 [...]

Andrew Delusional

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 [...]

Lion Man

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 [...]

Lewsey Wades into England Coaching Regime

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. [...]

Despair

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.”

Can the Not-So-Sweet Chariot Swing Any Lower?

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, [...]

Return of King Jonny Fails to Turn Aussie Tide

For the first 10 minutes of yesterday’s match, it was as if we had been set into a time machine, back six years. Here was Jonny Wilkinson, dropping a goal, kicking a penalty, ticking the scoreboard over, giving England an early lead, a lead from which they would press on and suffocate the opposition. But [...]

Hello – Earth Calling Rob Andrew…

Very rarely do newspaper articles about rugby make me angry, there are after all far more important things in life to worry about, but this little beauty had me tutting and chuntering like a middle Englander reading a Daily Mail editorial.
Rob Andrew rejected the view that supporters were disenchanted following the calamitous sequence of results [...]

And so Another Season Dawns, Dust off the Hip Flask…

As another new English Premiership season of attrition, aggression and (hopefully) ambition dawns with new coaches, new players and another Jonny Wilkinson injury dragging on, what is on the wish list for the coming term? Here is what I would like to see happen and also my predictions for the trophies.
 
ELVs – so much has [...]