Clive Woodward’s side look unbeatable but the Six Nations has a habit of throwing up surprises
Eddie Butler
Given the size of the conservative rump that still produces most wind up and down the shires, it could never be taken for granted that Clive Woodward would receive the funds he needed to construct his elite systems. But ever since Twickenham, with unimagined generosity, began to pour money his way, there has only been one pre-championship favourite: England themselves.
They go into another Six Nations destined to sweep the board. Their players are bigger, stronger and fitter than anyone else’s, thanks to the conditioning of Dave Reddin. They defend better than anyone else thanks to Phil Larder. They have drummed into them the never-say-lose attitude of Andy Robinson, which neatly complements the expansive vision of Brian Ashton.
The temptation is to say that they kick better than everyone else, thanks to Dave Alred. But Wales have Neil Jenkins. So, Jonny Wilkinson’s success rate of 98% isn’t quite the best.
No matter. England are the best at just about everything. And at their head they have the engagingly flaky Woodward himself, who prevents the whole thing from becoming boring. He makes no sense, but does it in an effortlessly pleasant way. Yes, England are clear favourites. As usual. Except that three times in the professional age they have allowed others to pinch the title: France twice and Scotland once. Twice in succession they have blown Grand Slam showdowns against, spit, mere Celtic opponents.
And right now, all may not be big-pectoral harmony in the camp. This has been the season of the strike, when pay demands have spilled over into complaints about conditions of service. Underpaid and now overplayed.
It hardly makes you think that England can’t wait to get stuck into the Welsh. Not when the Leicester lads will have had only six days to recover from their European Cup quarterfinal with Swansea.
Half a calisthenics session short of the optimum, eh? Their world may crumble.
So, with a lightning piece of reactive revision, I think it is fair to say this: England should beat everyone, but they won’t. As usual. But who will beat them? And how?
The easy way out of the potential for embarrassment is to say that it is utterly inevitable but entirely unpredictable. That’s a cop-out, based on Scott Gibbs’s last-gasp try at Wembley two years ago and Scotland’s one and only proper performance of last year. Could anyone have seen them coming?
Of course England should have. We should know by now that the Six Nations, for all the millions invested in the eradication of the chances of anything going wrong, remains unfathomable, and that erratic behaviour patterns should be programmed into our predictive efforts.
So, here goes. Starting with the obvious. Wales away at the Millennium stadium is going to be a welcome to hell. There’s no point going all indignant with “What’s wrong with those Welsh? We’re all one country, aren’t we? One Britain.” Not on the day England play Wales in Cardiff.
It’s no place to be feeling a little tight in the calf, a little light on the recovery period. Wales will somehow have to match England up front, but Scott Quinnell is clearing up retreating scrummage ball like a man possessed and the French referee in accordance with a desire to see play go on might just let Wales collapse England’s driving mauls from the line-out. Wilkinson will lose out to Jenkins by eight penalties to nine and David Young will appear on the end of a counter-attack from 50m for the only try of the game.
England then play Italy and Scotland at home. It is tempting to start a landslide towards the wooden spoon by saying that Diego Dominguez and … oh, John Leslie, let’s say, will do something mind-boggling, but that would cheapen a serious study of decomposition. So, England will win. But just remember it wasn’t so long ago at Huddersfield that the Italians very nearly did boggle a few minds.
England then go to Dublin for their stand-alone game with Ireland. For Cardiff read Dublin. Welcome to hell again. Brian O’Driscoll will be back, the one ounce of creativity in a game that will enter the annals of ferocity thanks to the clash of the packs. Ireland will win 5-3.
And then England will take France to pieces. Someone somewhere is going to cop a lot of points from England. It may as well be the second favourites. That way, everyone keeps their job and England can provide the bulk of the players to go on tour to Australia with the Lions. Where nationalistic scars will be seamlessly healed.
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