![]() ![]() In that period, England’s only wins have come against Japan, Italy and Wales, and in their last six matches they have scored seven tries and conceded 23. They have also been losing finalists three times, in 1991, 20.ĭuring the last 12 months, under Jones then Steve Borthwick, England have lost eight and drawn one of their 13 matches, including an all-time record 53-10 loss to France at Twickenham in March, and that first ever Test defeat to a traditional “tier-two” team, Fiji, two weeks ago. England captain Owen Farrell takes a picture with a fan outside the team hotel (Photo: Getty)Įngland’s four years of preparation has been widely panned, and the bookies have them as 16/1 against improving on being the only northern-hemisphere country to have won the World Cup (in 2003). And it is sickening to the sporting soul that four years of preparation and eight weeks of competition could be undone in a split-second’s misjudgement. But with the legal tackle height, probably for the last time at a World Cup, set at the line of the shoulders, a red card for an accidental head contact is almost inevitable. We want referees to apply all the laws strictly so as to give the teams who wish the move the ball the leeway to do so. The intervening 16 years has seen head contact and its association with brain injury addressed, in part, by red cards and bans and an ever more complex attempt to clear the sport up with TV replays the latest of which is the VAR-style foul-replay bunker. Head-high tackles were commonplace, and treated by most in the media as either part of the game or cartoonishly amusing. ![]() Looking back to 2007, a player had to do something pretty bad to get sent off. New Zealand’s draw feels a lot like 2007, when they were under-done before the quarter-finals, unless Italy turn up properly for once and battle-harden the All Blacks, whose wing Will Jordan epitomises their age-old brilliance in straight-line running and support play. Jones, the erstwhile England boss, has no wins from five Tests since his abrupt return home to coach Australia, but on their day the Wallabies are up with Fiji for their running game. So the winners’ ribbons on the trophy could well be green. The South Africans are holders from 2019 and yet they too look stronger now, not least because they have taken to putting seven big forwards on the bench. But the team coached by English rugby league legend Andy Farrell has beaten every top-tier nation since the last tournament, and they are on a national record run of 13 Test wins. High among your World Cup must-have facts is that Ireland have never reached a semi-final. ![]() Never mind, the newspaper and online coverage will be excellent, and all the matches are free to air on ITV and, for those who make the trip, memories are warm of France’s World Cup of 2007 balmy weather, food and wine, full stadiums… ![]()
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