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An unlikely win against France puts England into the world Cup Final with the opportunity to defend the trophy they won four years ago. There will be those who complain that England shouldn't be in the final, but in the end it is just sour grapes that their teams couldn't rack up the points required to win the games they played in.
On the basis of last night's performance, it might reasonably be said that England did not deserve to win, but then neither did the French. The French scores were generally gifted to them by the English and with the exception of the final three minutes when they realised that they had thrown it away, they rarely threatened to work a score for themselves. Indeed, for an extended period in the second half they were deliberately winding the clock down despite only leading by a single point. When their tournament suddenly went pear-shaped, they reaped the fruits of their own labours.
England, untidy and undisciplined as they were, wanted the win more and with a little more luck or a little more perseverance could have added more points to the 14 the managed. The French never managed to come close, despite dominating the middle of the field for long periods. Anyone who thinks otherwise should ask themselves why lazy talisman Chabal was brought on so early. The French coaching staff knew their team's collective head was in the wrong place.
( Hidden because someone I know has tender sensibilities! ;-) )
Compare Englishman Andy Sheridan with French pin up boy Dimitri Szarzewski1, above
The secret of England's success is clearly in the ugliness of our players. With a couple of exceptions, we have an ugly team, with some serious standout moon pigs. The French by and large, have a pretty, pin up team; they have distilled all their ugliness into one or two players, Chabal taking the lion's share of it (no pun intended). Coiffed, sculpted and manicured, the French pop stars could simply not cope with the sheer lack of English photogenics - when Wilkinson is amongst your best, you know the team is in trouble as far as good looks go.
1Probably NOT the most traditional of French names...
On the basis of last night's performance, it might reasonably be said that England did not deserve to win, but then neither did the French. The French scores were generally gifted to them by the English and with the exception of the final three minutes when they realised that they had thrown it away, they rarely threatened to work a score for themselves. Indeed, for an extended period in the second half they were deliberately winding the clock down despite only leading by a single point. When their tournament suddenly went pear-shaped, they reaped the fruits of their own labours.
England, untidy and undisciplined as they were, wanted the win more and with a little more luck or a little more perseverance could have added more points to the 14 the managed. The French never managed to come close, despite dominating the middle of the field for long periods. Anyone who thinks otherwise should ask themselves why lazy talisman Chabal was brought on so early. The French coaching staff knew their team's collective head was in the wrong place.
( Hidden because someone I know has tender sensibilities! ;-) )
Compare Englishman Andy Sheridan with French pin up boy Dimitri Szarzewski1, above
The secret of England's success is clearly in the ugliness of our players. With a couple of exceptions, we have an ugly team, with some serious standout moon pigs. The French by and large, have a pretty, pin up team; they have distilled all their ugliness into one or two players, Chabal taking the lion's share of it (no pun intended). Coiffed, sculpted and manicured, the French pop stars could simply not cope with the sheer lack of English photogenics - when Wilkinson is amongst your best, you know the team is in trouble as far as good looks go.
1Probably NOT the most traditional of French names...