Another relative RWC success, another RFU cock-up.

Post RWC 2003, England Rugby failed to capitalise on their success as players retired or dawdled on retirement, coaches rested on their laurels before moving or being moved on, and results and performances disintegrated.

Post RWC 2007, things have a distinctly familiar, and distinctly unpleasant, smell. After two Six Nations games, results and performances are once again very, very poor. Ashton’s new dawn – supposedly delayed due to the practicalities of delivering something at the RWC – is looking somewhat dusky. The great white hope during the Robinson era seems to be no more than Andy Robinson in disguise – unable to make the bold selections predicted, unable to break club playing habits, unable to get the coaching units to blend.

For several years now, I’ve tolerated this mixed bag of performances and results, telling myself that for £40 or £50  for a ticket it was a grand day out. Sure, at the end of the Robinson era, after the Argentina game I told myself that I wouldn’t come back for a while. But that despondency was soon cured with the annual injection of fresh hope that the 6 Nations always delivers. And that was before the euphoria of the latter stages of RWC 2007.

But the current price of £75 is a step too far. That is £20 more than the top prices for the RWC warm up games. It’s nearly more than the face value of the tickets that I had for the RWC semi final against France. It’s taking the p1ss and it’s not something that I can afford to tolerate given the blend of inadequate results and unsatisfactory performance.