There was a time in the Currie Cup when you could play in the B section and make it to the final of the main event.
Ask the Natal team that contested the 1984 final in Cape Town after a shock win over Free State in the A Section runner-up vs B Section winner semifinal. The Rugby World Cup has become a bit like that, and England could be the team that profits.
If the world rugby nations were separated into A and B sections, and those groups were made up of five teams, the A section would consist of Ireland, France, New Zealand and SA. The likes of England, Wales and Australia would belong in the B section, and Saturday’s huge win for France at Twickenham, provided indication there is a wide chasm between the groups.
That gap started to become evident in the northern hemisphere autumn international season. Were it not for England’s spirited but freaky late fightback that earned them a draw against New Zealand, they would have lost all three games they played against decent opposition. Wales were smashed by the All Blacks and lost to Australia, who were also poor in comparison to what we saw during that period from Ireland, France, the Springboks and the All Blacks.
And Scotland, now ranked fifth in the world rugby rankings, were better than the rest too and nearly beat the Kiwis at Murrayfield.
So what’s the problem with all of this? It’s the World Cup draw, which pays no respect to the current rankings. France did lose to Ireland a few weeks ago so in my estimation they move to joint World Cup favourites rather than the stand-alone favourites some are making them out to be.
Lopsided final
The problem is that the other teams that would challenge them for favourite status are all on their side of the draw — Ireland, SA and New Zealand. England just have to be better than the other teams in the B Section to make it to the final, and that’s a problem for the tournament.
I say that only partially because it may create a lopsided final. In reality, whoever makes it from the England side of the draw to Paris might have a great chance of winning as the team that makes it from the A Section will already have played several finals to get there.
There is a real possibility that if, for example, the Boks make it, they will be physically and emotionally drained from a tournament that, for them to make the final, would have seen them play Ireland and Scotland and then beat France and or New Zealand along the way.
Eddie Jones will get his chance to avenge himself on England, who axed him as their coach before Christmas, when he coaches Australia at the World Cup in France later this year. But he’s not up against much on the evidence of what we saw at Twickenham at the weekend. And Wales, who are struggling with so many off-field problems that it is making Warren Gatland’s second arrival as Wales coach the stuff of nightmares, will not amount to much either.
Reading through the UK press after the big defeat to France has made interesting though not necessarily surprising reading. English scribes are falling over themselves to laud France for being on a different planet. And that praise is justified.
Patent nonsense
Yet there appears to be a transparent need to avoid criticising Jones’s successor after the flak they gave the Australian towards the end of his tenure. For where do they go now if Steve Borthwick fails? There’s a narrative being put out, fuelled by Borthwick himself, that the new coach has taken over the dregs of a team. Almost as if they have been assembled from the village green or rounded up in the local pub and taught rugby from scratch.
This is patent nonsense. England struggled towards the end of Jones’s tenure, but those who know him will tell you that whatever brickbats you might like to throw at him, he never stops coaching and never neglects his job. The England players under Jones were no more passive under him than they were made to look by France, who appeared to be a couple of seconds ahead with their recycling and a few levels ahead with everything they did.
England has a different coach, but the same result. Perhaps even a worse result. But since the start of last November England have lost at home to Argentina, were lucky to draw with the All Blacks, were lucky to not lose by more to the Boks, and also went down to Scotland before being humiliated by France.
They travel to Ireland this week. No-one will give them a chance. If they lose heavily again, the World Cup draw will look even more stupid than it already does, for it will just further cement England’s position in the RWC B section.
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