This morning, England finally produced a performance they could be proud of. Admittedly, it was against a weakened Romania team, but you can only beat what is put in front of you, and England did so handsomely. Of their ten tries, nine were scored by the backs and the tenth by Tom Croft in a backs move. They took their opportunities well and were clinical in their finishing. Not even once did I think that they should have scored when they hadn’t. The lineout looked good, the scrum creaked a bit but then held, and some of the players whose form had been questionable coming into the tournament began to show signs of what they are capable of. Ben Foden in particular looks like he is beginning to find the spark that made him such a force at the start of the Six Nations. Cueto is back among the tries in his first World Cup start. Tindall has better hands than he is generally given credit for, although he did botch a few moves. Tuilagi brings much-needed directness and pace. After all the on-field and off-field issues of the past two weeks, it looks as though England are back to where they want to be. Seems that the clear-the-air talks that they had earlier in the week have done their job, as indeed they did in 2007. However, this was Romania, so it is important not to get too far ahead of ourselves. Against Scotland, who have a habit of making games very difficult for England and are beginning to develop a back line of their own, it will not be so easy.
On paper, NZ/France should have been the highlight of the group stages. I think most of us expected a tense, close, nail-biter, particularly as France seem to have had the World Cup mockers on New Zealand. All the talk about Lievremont putting out a B-team was, frankly, inflated. Only at hooker, fly-half and possibly no. 8 could that argument have been made. Parra at fly-half, though, was odd even by Lievremont’s standards. New Zealand, on the other hand, put out very close to their strongest 15. Even with all the talk about how the loser in some ways has the easier path to the final, it did not seem as though either team was taking the game lightly.
France started well, looking bright with ball in hand and strong at the breakdown, but they could not make their possession and territory tell, nor could they break down a superb New Zealand defence. The All Blacks, on the other hand, had few opportunities but carved the French apart every time they got, and once they were 19-0 up after 22 minutes, the game was up. France were made to look poor at the scrum, weak at the breakdown and ponderous, slow and hesitant in attack. For a French side that is known for counterattacking at pace, it was their lack of threat with ball in hand that was so surprising. As an England fan, I’m very relieved that New Zealand won, as on the form they displayed today I’m not sure we have it in us to beat them. But I’m eyeing up France with some relish. If the French play as they did today when they play against England, I think we have every chance of beating them, and beating them well. However, the cliché that you can never tell which France is going to turn up still holds, and it is also true that they were made to look poor by a superb New Zealand performance. Whether England can display as much skill and commitment at the breakdown, I’m not sure.
Finally, a word on Israel Dagg. I mentioned him in my NZ/Tonga post, where I said I thought he had a superb game. He had another one today. Graham Henry took a gamble starting him ahead of Muliaina and it paid off handsomely. It must be difficult competing with a legend for your place in a legendary side, but Dagg has taken his opportunities extremely well. He deserved his man-of-the-match award today and has played himself into the first-choice 15.
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