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Lewsey and England must attack
England are world champions in only the nominal sense.
Whilst the team has a chance at reaching the knockout stages and - who knows - with an unbelievable improvement in form - a win that would be completely out of the blue against the gathering force of Australia.
It has been a painful four years with the side consistently incapable of looking forwards rather than backwards. It would be a sound idea for Brian Ashton to start thinking of the future immediately instead of focussing solely on a tight driving game to beat Samoa and Tonga.
Playing in this manner will get them nowhere against Australia. Better to chance the arm and lose 50-20, trying to play; at least doing more than concentrating on negating.
The Southern Hemisphere giants are better than the British at the breakdown and quicker all over. To even dent their confidence space must be utilised and their powerful defences asked a few questions, as Wales did Australia's (albeit when Australia had secured the win).
Both the Wallabies and South Africa are developing at a rate which could bring the tournament to a dramatic conclusion. It will need something special to test the All Blacks.
Eyes on the Irish
Ireland could be the Kiwis quarter final opponents if they finish runners up in Pool D but the woeful nature of their display against Georgia does not augur well for their potentially epic encounter with the hosts Friday night. Paul O' Connell must be at his best and Brian O' Driscoll requires one of those nights he occasionally conjures.
That game is my match of the weekend although the thought of seeing how Scotland measure up to New Zealand, compared to their recent match with South Africa is intriguing...
England versus Samoa could be tense. I don't know whether the Samoan ineptitude against Tonga is good or bad news; good in that neither side were up to much, bad in that both will be fired up for England.
That's the pressure stuff but this tournament has a lighter side. The celebration of Portugal's scruffy try against the All Blacks was one such moment, four thousand children watching England train and sing `Happy birthday' to Mike Catt in Versailles was another.
Away from the World Cup I am looking forward to watching the tapes of Gloucester and `Big Les' as the Shed are already christening Vaikono strut their stuff against Leeds.. Now to this week's mail...
Under the Posts - Stuart answers your email...
Email Stuart Barnes
A GLOBAL GAME
Hey Stuart. Don't you think the IRB's possible decision to cut the number of teams in the World Cup is regressive thinking? Especially in view of the performance by the so called minnows like USA v Poms and Ireland v Georgia/Namibia. Even the big losses like Japan v Oz and Portugal v All Blacks were hard fought matches and both losing teams showed more fight than the giants England has in its games. Is the world cup solely about wins and loses? How boring would it be without these countries (so called minnows)? Do you think the IRB will change its elitist view when England get smacked by Samoa and Tonga and end up last in there group (quite possible)? Lots of questions I know but the IRB has dragged its legs far too long in regards to truly developing the game, and as a true rugby fan tired of watching Tri Nation teams playing each other three times a year and the bore of the 6 Nations, this is disappointing. Thanks. Mike Paris.
STUART SAYS: Mike, I am with you all the way. The World Cup is primarily about the winning of it but there is much more to the sport's showpiece than simply a trophy. It must development the sport around the world and encourage new fans and whilst Portugal's defeat against New Zealand and Japan's at the hands of Australia look difficult to defend in showpiece events, anyone who watched the Portuguese joy at scoring a drop goal and try against the Blacks would not want to eradicate such pleasure - unless the mismatch becomes physically dangerous. Long term the sport can grow but only by extending its welcome to the world rather than keeping the door closed to newcomers.
COACH AND CORRY
Stuart, Like many people I'm sure, I am very angry about the SA game. I'm not normally in favour of the football mentality of blaming the coach etc, but in this case I really believe the England coach has a lot to answer. There are so many talented players at home playing for their clubs, who even to a simple fan like myself can tell should be there. You champion James Simpson-Daniel all the time, as do every other fan pretty much in chorus up and down the country. A player with the non-English traits, guile, imagination and flair. Then you have comments that stick in the throat from the captain Martin Corry after the game. Corry said, we couldn't go around them, so we tried to go through them. To me, all England's problems lie in those comments. Enough said! Thanks, Kev Bundy.
STUART SAYS: Kev, I am a fan of Brian Ashton but no doubt major selection blunders were made. Psychological ones too; Martin Corry is a great tryer but alas synonomous with some pretty dark days. Whole-hearted but ponderous it is difficult to see how his presence as captain did anything but send England down the dead-end street which Corry inadvertently admitted. I can understand your despair; I only hope England open their game up and play with pace and ambition. They are not the best in the world and only a fool would criticise them for going out to a better team but to go down defending without firing an attacking shot; that's unacceptable. All eyes on the result and the performance in Nantes on Saturday.
STRAW CLUTCHING
Hi Stuart, I was wondering whether you believe the timing of the RWC is hampering NH teams chances of winning. I may be clutching at straws but surely it would be in the interest of fairness to play all RWC competitions based in the SH in the middle of NH season and all RWC competitions based in the NH in the middle of the SH season. This would strike a friendly balance between advantageous home support and general conditioning of the players. It is also glaringly apparent that Lions Tours are working to the detriment of the home nations whilst favouring the (crucial) preparation of the SH teams. Two years prior to a World Cup is when preparation should start in earnest towards the upcoming RWC and I felt that 2001 almost derailed England (certainly evidenced by the defeat to Ireland). The summer of 2008 should be written of as valuable rest time but it won't be because, commercial reasons aside, 2009 is Lions tour year. That leaves us in 2010 with exhausted players being forced to tour again unmotivated and fatigued. Your thoughts would be gratefully received. Seb, London.
STUART SAYS: Seb, I think the Southern Hemisphere have better players, coaches and a superior rugby culture right now. I'd say you were clutching at straws - hey but somebody has to...
Thanks for the mail, as ever, keep it coming and enjoy your rugby, club and country this weekend (and you players too).
Stuart Barnes
