World Cup warm up at Twickenham

From England v Wales 2011

England v Wales is normally a great game – but would it be without the six nations at stake, and with both sides fielding many players not certain to be in the final line ups when they travel to New Zealand… The final score correctly reflected a close, but scrappy game in which England always had the upper hand – but only just. There where a few moments of flair from England that showed promise – but indiscipline at crucial moments let Wales stay in the match. On this performance I don’t think any of the southern hemi-sphere teams will be in the least bit worried that the world cup will be going north of the equator any time soon.

Bring on the Scots!

From England v Scotland 2009

Half having expected to have been on a plane to Tokyo instead of watching the last match of the 6 nations, I made my way on another spring day to Twickenham. This was my first time in the “television” stand – the side where the camera are – so the formalities at the beginning of the match where towards me rather than with their backs to me… The first half of the French match had been a wonderful display of rugby. Scotland put up a better defence than the French and held England to 15-3 at half time – reasonably respectful. Then in a very cagey second half both sides cancelled each other out – a final score of 26-12 was a fair result. The Irish then managed to narrowly defeat the Welsh – allowing England to  achieve a 2nd place in the 6 Nations that looked very unlikely when they struggled to defeat the Italians, and couldn’t keep their discipline against either the Welsh or the Irish!

French overwhelmed at Twickenham

From England v France 2009

On a very pleasant Sunday afternoon I made my way to Twickenham with no great expectations of a good performance from England. I’d been grateful that they’d broken their loosing streak while I was watching against Italy – even if that had been unconvincing. Imaging my surprise when they scored in the first few minutes – every team has some luck and the French often take a little time to wake up. But then the excellent play continued and by half time the score line was  an amazing 29-0. It wasn’t a surprise that the second half wasn’t as brilliant – I’ve never seen England play well for two halves in a row – but loosing the second half 5-10 still meant an impressive 34-10 result. Could they keep it up against the Scots, and if the Wales-Ireland result when England’s way a incredible 2nd place in the 6 nations was possible!

End of Jinks

From England v Italy 2009

Having managed to attend Twickenham four times, only to watch England loose on each occasion, if there was an unlikely defeat by Italy to kick off the Six Nations in 2009, then I'd have to draw the conclusion that it was my presence that was the cause of the run of defeats. Luckily, it proved not to be the case. England managed to defeat a lacklustre Italy. The concerning thing is that I have tickets to the two remaining home games - and if the same England shows up to those matches - surely France will defeat England and Scotland might stand a chance....

England fail to put the wheels back on the hand cart

From England v NZ 2008

England where going to need all the luck in the world to pull of a shock recovery after two heavy defeats - and to break my jinx of them failing to win on every occasion I've had the privilege to watch them live! Maybe I'm using all the luck up getting tickets - I'd not expected to be at the final match of the Autumn - but thanks to SUN, I not only had a ticket but a free lunch, and drinks to drown the sorrows of a third defeat to the southern hemisphere. As some had predicted the game started as a kicking match - everything possible kicked from hand - by both sides. Leading to a lack of any flare or entertaining play from either side. Then the ref intervened, and the yellow cards for England started flowing. By the end of the match England would have played half the match with a man missing! Yet again England went in at half time in touch with the opposition, and but for a tap tackle would have taken the lead shortly after the break. But partially due to the yellow cards they quickly lost control in the second half as the All Black disappear in to the distance - but unfortunately not enough for the 30 point defeat I put in the sweep - it would have been consolation for the final nail in the coffin England hand managed to turn the chariot into!

So the conclusions from the three matches are:

• South Africa are currently the strongest side in the world - they are world champions after all.
• England need to learn to play to the interpretation of rules the ref is playing to, to avoid giving away more points than they can score themselves.
• England need to strengthen their defence - in both the Australia and All Blacks matches England had plenty of opportunities to score - but put themselves under too much pressure and relieved the pressure on the opposition by not being able to hold them whenever they cross England 22 - both Australia and New Zealand scored far to easily - and the Boks played as if England U16 where defending the goal line!

The Boks knock the wheels off the chariot!

On a cold autumnal afternoon the Spring Boks showed England how rugby should be played! In defence they where wall like, repeatedly blunting hard fort for good position, and twice quickly returning the length of the pitch to score a try from England's encampment on their line. Every time they entered England's 22 they seamed to simple move straight past the defence put up but a static England.

From England v SA 2008

6-42 was probably a little harsh - but reflected the apparent panic or desperation from England towards the end of the game - throwing caution to the wind with some ridiculous pass attempts - but nothing else had worked against the wall of green. If the All Blacks don't give England a similar drubbing next weekend it will be a small miracle - and might mean I need to re-think watching England live as they've lost every match I've seen at Twickenham!

Autumn Rugby against the southern hemisphere

Much to my surprise I manage to get tickets to two of the Autumn matches against the southern hemisphere sides. Luck in the RFU members draw got me a pair for the match against the Spring Boks, and even more surprising a ticket on Ticket master to the match against the Wallabies ... having witnessed the pour performance of the England team against the team they knocked out of the world cup maybe the normal takers of the tickets simply stayed away. While England failed to play well, it has to be said that the southern hemisphere match officials actually had a worse day than the very poor England. England lost this one because they didn't managed to convert territory to points.

From England v Australia 2008

England did manage to hold their own in the first half, even managing to score a try after much huffing and puffing to cross the line - and if the ref had allowed the match to flow, they may have been far enough ahead to survive, what appears to always be the case when I watch them live, not being able to keep up the standard of their performance in the second half. And so it proved to be a drubbing by Australians - I have a feeling the reigning world champions will be far too strong for this fledgeling England team...

Rugby Premiership season Opening Double Header

From London Double Header 2008

Thanks to Sun I made my way to the almost finished Twickenham for the opening Saturday of the Guinness Premiership - London Irish against last year's champions Wasps, followed by Saracens v Harlequins.

In an unexpected result the Irish ran out winners 26 to 14. The Wasps only seamed to get motivated once the clock reached zero, and they chased a final try to claim the point for not loosing by more than 7 - if they'd been equally motivated thought out the match it would have been a closer call!

The second match was a much closer affair - with some needle if the flying arms of some of the players was anything to go by! Internationals from 11 different countries lead to quality entertainment - with Harlequins running out winners by a very close 24-21. By the end of the day there was even a little blue sky to cheer the day.

London Irish v Leicester Tigers

On cold crisp morning, a outing to London Irish's home they share with Reading was rewarded with a pleasant afternoon watching what turned out to be a very competitive Sunday Rugby match. Given the host team and the sponsor of the league, a black theme to the ground was inevitable!

Madejski Stadium is an impressive stadium, some how more compact that I expected for the home of a Premiership Football team - but even half full for a Sunday afternoon Rugby match there was a good atmosphere - although the generous hospitality from Sun probably contributed to that!

England showed up for the first half....

A full house at Twickenham for the first match of a Six nation championship, and a hopeful Saint George flag leaving the pitch. World Cup finalists, England, took the lead at half time by a health 16-6. But the England team, who had improved so much during the World Cup, failed to show up for the second half, and a resurgent Wales dominated the second half to run out a deserved 19-26. For you amusement - can you spot the ball as Wales hammer the nail in the English coffin?

All Blacks v The Oaks

In the Pool C match in Toulouse that every one had come to see, the already qualified for the next stage, All Blacks, could have taken the opportunity for a rest. But the Romanian Oaks put up good resistance, but weren't good enough to hold back the might of the tournament favourites! The 85-8 score was a fair reflection of the difference in class - New Zealand set out their store right from the beginning - returning the kick off from behind their try line to score down the other end! Having said that Romania did put a try on the score board - and held the score to less than three figures.

Rugby World Cup 2007- Portugal v Romania

	Doesn't seem like well over a year ago I bought tickets to the only two Rugby World Cup 2007 matches in Toulouse that I could get tickets for - as a warm up for the rout I expect the All Blacks v Romania to be this was an entertaining match. Great seats - well plastic "cushions" on concrete - on a walk way exactly on the try line - it felt like you could have reached out and touched the players.
From RWC 2007

Match 30 - Portugal's last chance to salvage something from the tournament - 108-13 to the All Blacks was no disgrace - crossing the try line something England failed to do against the Springboks! It was like a home match for Portugal - with lots of atmosphere. But that didn't stop the superior fitness of the Romanians eventually leading to their 10-14 victory. Roll on the All Blacks v Romania - for the half the Black's are playing towards us we should see lots of action in the Romania 22 and for the other half we'll have a good view of the conversions....