England

They make you play Rugby at school, which I think is a little nasty! Imagine the scene now. It's freezing cold, spitting with rain. I'm standing in the middle of a field, shivering in my shorts and T-shirt. Then someone throws the ball at me, I catch it and freeze. 15 people start charging at me, with the sole intent of hurting me. So what do I do? Run away like a coward, or stay and risk possible death? Nope, I just throw the ball to the next unsuspecting person on my team, and let them make that decision. Sooner or later though, someone was going to get caught out, and they would be ... more

Mama Mia!I bet the Italians wished they'd got on their scooters at half time, made their way to the nearest coffee house and sank a few cappucinos. To steal a tired cliche from another well-known sport this was certainly a game of 2 halves. The first half was a lacklustre, tetchy affair and England were lucky to go in at the interval 10 points to the good. But in the second half they were a simply awesome attacking force as the Italians capitulated under immense English pressure, conceding a massive 47 points without reply. A criticism often levelled at England is that when they get ahead in a ... more

From hero to...erm...hero in the space of 24 hours. Having scored the try that secured England’s victory over a stubborn Springbok team, Will Greenwood flies home to be with his wife. With a difficult birth ensuing, the England man has proved that family does come above sport in stark contrast to Nasser Hussein taking his pregnant partner on the cricketer’s tour of Oz. I thought that this was a nice finish to an excellent weekend for the national team. In retrospect, the previous encounter at Twickenham had proved a false comparison, what with the barbarous tactics of the Boks that day ... more

So there it was. As the ball sailed through the posts on that wet Australian night in November, we all knew what had just happened, as did Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood as they leapt in the air and hugged each other....England were World Champions, the last few seconds didn't matter, England could hold out. I remember the feeling as everyone at my rugby club went mad, first at the sight of the drop goal, then the final whistle and then as Englands greatest captain lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy above his head, pure elation! Looking back on that night now though it needs to be looked at in ... more

There is nothing more I like than watching England beat New Zealand but lets be honest it wasnt the most convincing performance ever. 31-28 against a weakened New Zealand at home is nothing to shout about. A win is a win fair enough but will there be the same result in Australia in the world cup? Not if we dont get better it wont. Look at the facts of the recent match. New Zealand missed two fairly simple penalties at goal. They looked sharper and more direct in attack. Apart from a few punishing runs from Woodman who had an excellent game, we seemed to be going no where fast on first and ... more