Rugby World Cup 2019 - Ireland shit the pot all over again

Sidney · October 26, 2019, 10:29am

The John Bulls have emerged

Rugby World Cup 2015

On the contrary I think English rugby has got its coaching structures very much in order in recent years as shown by the emergence of a large number of very exciting young players.

What they’re missing is a Johnson/Dallaglio John Bull-type figure. Those figures take time to emerge. Even the Johnson/Dallaglio team coached by Woodward lost three Grand Slam deciders in a row from 1999 to 2001, were well beaten in the quarter-finals of the 1999 World Cup and were touted as serial bottlers before they showed the merit of that argument by winning the Grand Slam and the World Cup in 2003.

England may be one game away from going out of the World Cup but they’re also potentially one game away from winning the group, which they probably will if they beat Australia.

Even if England do go out on Saturday they have the nucleus of a team who will challenge very strongly in 2019.