I feel as though I need a little bit of a disclaimer attached, because I’m angry. It’s been bubbling at the surface, before the World Cup, during the world cup and now it’s just uncontrollable, it’s not a volcano style eruption of anger, more of a very angry dog trapped in a room, and every time you open the door its chaos.
Sam Burgess has gone back to Australia because he missed his family- excuse me if I don’t weep for the man who got to experience a World Cup in England playing for England.
First off let me say this- Sam Burgess should NEVER have been on the England team, I said as much on this site when the announcement was made. It goes against everything, it’s not the competitive choice, it’s the desperate choice. Burgess as has been highly documented is a very successful League player, congrats Sam, he won the championship in Sydney. Sam had never played Union, he spends 6 months in the Premiership and… then he gets an England call-up. Burgess wasn’t even selected to play flanker where he was with Bath for most of the year, no he was selected to play Centre, why is that I hear you ask? We’ll get to Lancaster later. Left out of the squad- and this is what really starts to get me angry was young centre Luther Burrell a break out star at the 2014 6 Nations, Burrell could be a real piece England could build around. Alas, he wasn’t selected while Burgess felt- quite arrogantly in this writer’s opinion- that 6 months in Union was more the enough time to learn the game and become a regular for your nation, worthy of a World Cup appearance even. How absolutely coincidently Burgess decided to switch before a World Cup.
Stuart Lancaster, then thinks why not, Burrell struggled in the last 6 months, didn’t set the 2015 6 nations alight, so let’s just ditch him, all of his experience, talent and potential, left at home. This is the man, that tore apart the team that won the 2011 6 nations and then lost to eventual finalist France at the 2011 World Cup. Instilling a “competitive selection process” he tossed experience to the side and picked the most in-form players. Robshaw was given captaincy without a single cap to his name. The team have collapsed in the most painful ways in recent times. All they had to do was beat Wales and win the 6 nations in 2014 instead they were embarrassed at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, don’t suppose all the experience in the Welsh team had anything to do with it, when the game really mattered. When building a team for a World Cup-Especially a monumental home World Cup- you’d think you’d do just that; build a team. Lancaster has chopped and changed his team so much it’s impossible to keep up. It’s the “competitive selection” but of course when the Captain Robshaw’s form starts to fail where is the competitive selection? Nowhere. Lancaster didn’t even know who his best half-backs where going into the World Cup, constantly switching between Ben Youngs and Danny Care at 9, and completely flipping on Owen Farrell to go with George Ford, and because of this it meant the experience of playing with each other- the connection, the most important bloody connection in Rugby was none existent, how many times had Care thrown to Ford before the world cup? My guess is maybe 5. Imagine if New Zealand had gone into the 2011 World Cup unsure of their 9 and 10 connection. It’s border-line criminal, and it showed on the field; Robshaw continued to struggle, the team collapsed under pressure (again) and Lancaster flipped and flopped his team until he realised none of them are very good because none of them have been given a consistent role with a consistent partnership on the field.
And then Sam Burgess the arrogant mercenary realises that actually I can’t just walk into this team- that isn’t very good anyway. That 6 months at flanker doesn’t warrant a place in any World Cup squad as a center. He barely plays, it’s all over in a flash, but hey, least he can say been there done that got the t-shirt. How many kids would dream to play for their country at a home world cup? I know one kid his name is Luther Burrell. Does Burgess stick it out in Union? Does he show some courage, determination or perseverance to work and learn more so that he can he do his nation proud in the future? No he says thanks for the experience guys sorry I couldn’t be of any help, I’m going back to Australia where I’m adored. Then he comes out and says it’s because he missed his family?! Have the courage to say it Sam, you wanted to play at the World Cup in England, you were only interested in personal glory and Lancaster was too ignorant to see it.
I’ve wasted enough time on those two idiots and the embarrassment that was the 2015 World Cup. I hope a new coach comes in with a vision to build a team for four years, build it around the Ford, Youngs Nowell and Burrell. Don’t just show up with any group of players with English passports and expect to not get embarrassed.
Mike Brown has taken a pretty stern look at how the team performed,
“There is no trust (with England) now, as far as I am concerned. But it will all get sorted out with whoever is in charge or whoever is there. It will get sorted out, to move the team forwards — it always does in team environments”
Browns words a just another damning testimony of the shambles of England’s World Cup
Stuart Lancaster has fallen on his sword, before the RFU review group gave him the chop.
“I took on the role in difficult circumstances and it has been a huge challenge to transition the team with many hurdles along the way,” he added.
“However, I am immensely proud of the development of this team and I know that there is an incredibly strong foundation for them to progress to great things in the future.
“We have played some excellent rugby and it was always going to be tough to get the right level of experience into them in time for 2015. It is a young group of players with the huge majority available for the World Cup in Japan in 2019, where I believe their recent experience will make them genuine contenders.
Lancaster got a lot of things wrong, but he did transition some young players into the squad hopefully they will be a big part of 2019 in Japan.
Ford Sr, and Jr. have little respect for Burgess
Bath Head Coach Mike Ford was clearly as angry as I was with Mr.Burgess, saying it was all down to a lack of “stomach’ a lack of courage to fight for the team. George Ford son of head coach, Bath and England fly-half said how Bath captain Stuart Hooper prevented Burgess from addressing the squad after opting to leave.
“A lot of lads would die for this club,” George Ford told BBC Points West.
“A lot of lads have been here since they were young, coming up through the academy, and have served this club for as long as they can and for someone to come in and not maybe do the same thing upset a few lads.
“It was a great decision by Stuart as we wanted to focus our energy into putting in a good performance against London Irish.”
Premiership
In Premiership action; Exeter showed off their rise into the top echelons of English Rugby, beating Leicester 19 to 6. While Bath got on just fine without you know who, dominating London Irish 45 – 16 Priestland and Ford shared the kick duties as the Englishman looks to wrestle back the number 10 jersey.
