England’s tour ended with a 35-28 defeat to New Zealand Maori in what was a great game to watch.
England stormed to a 13-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes, with two penalties from Charlie Hodgson and a try from Steffon Armitage. The ambition they showed in keeping the ball alive was admirable, and it looked as though it could have been another impressive victory.
But the response by the Maori was mightily impressive. Hodgson had another penalty attempt which rebounded off the upright, and the home side ran it back through several phases and completed one of the tries of the season when Hosea Gear went over in the corner.
Liam Messam scored their second try shortly afterwards when Phil Dowson made a mistake at number 8, but England regained the lead through tries from Danny Care and Chris Ashton, the latter after an interception from Charlie Hodgson.
The Maori then scored two tries of their own in the second half, and Luke McAlister closed the game out with two penalties at the end.
There were several mistakes and missed tackles from both sides, but the way England looked to play with width early on was encouraging and proved that a strong performance in defeat can be a good thing! They needed a Jonny Wilkinson to close the game out at the end, but the experience will surely have done some good for players like Dowson and Chris Robshaw.
Some may even have done enough to earn a place in England’s Elite Player Squad due to be named next month, but we won’t get started on the pointlessness of that announcement!
Again I totally disagree.
The RWC was started in the amateur era. It was first proposed back in the 1950s – back in the good old days when money wasn’t a factor. The Tri-Nations and Super 14 competitions are truly money-focused: the inclusion of Pacific Island teams would be good for rugby as a whole, but instead Sanzar has introdcued even more games between Trinations teams because that’s better for the wallet.
The World Cup is the only event in which the minnows of rugby, some of which still have amateur players, can get matches against the big teams. If anything this makes it truer to the spirit of rugby than any other international competition. If it was purely about the money then NZ wouldn’t have gotten awarded the 2011 RWC – other countries offer bigger stadiums and chances to increase the broader appeal of the game which in turn would result in bigger financial returns.
As for Jonah, I have had the pleasure of meeting him and training with him while the All Blacks were based in Palmerston North and I was playing for Manawatu. As an example of his humility during this time the ABs had a public training run in Eketahuna and long after training had finished he was still signing autographs and spending time with fans when other ABs couldn’t be bothered and had buggered off. I think it’s understandable that you misinterpret media shyness with aloofness but my personal experience has shown me that the biggest superstar of the game is humble, although MJ is even more so. Of course this is purely subjective and I don’t have stats to back it up… ;-)
Sorry, I don’t totally disagree – forgot your other point. Kids and amateur players playing rugby for the sheer love of the game, mothers and fathers bringing quatered oranges on at half time, and sausage rolls and sandwiches at the after-match function are what it’s all about it. It’s easy enough to forget that as a rugby fan who is at times disaffected by the unfortunate by-products of the professional era.