Well, we need to get something straight here. International rugby is a battle,
a sporting arm wrestle, and with so much at stake these days, the fare is
not always from the textbook of beautiful rugby.
For the current side, it as also about laying the foundations for the 2015
World Cup. So, there will be times when Stuart Lancaster has to experiment,
there will be occasions when the rugby is not as polished as it could be.
There will be moments when the crowd might not agree with what is going on.
However, we all saw last week how joyous the class of 2003 were, 10 years on
from their memorable World Cup success. Imagine if in two years’ time we are
celebrating a World Cup win. I do not think too many will be looking back
and bemoaning what went on in 2013. So, that is my initial message, get
behind the side.
If anyone has any doubt about what blanket support can do for a team just ask
anyone from the side who played in the 26-26 draw in 1997 against the All
Blacks. I have never played in front of a crowd with so much energy.
It led to the fastest, most furious, exciting first half of rugby I have ever
been involved in. At half-time, there were players being sick in the
dressing room. They were empty.
Yet when they walked down the tunnel for the second half, the crowd lifted
them and provided the energy for another 40 minutes of wonderful rugby. The
players were grateful to the fans for giving them that extra 20 per cent
when they needed it most.
Let us put it this way: if you are on poolside watching your kids in a
swimming competition, would you stop shouting if they were not winning? I
think not.
As for Saturday’s game against Argentina, it is a great shame that both
Marland Yarde and Christian Wade are injured.
One thing is for sure, with England likely to get plenty of ball against a
side who will be mentally shattered after their experience in the southern
hemisphere’s Rugby Championship over the summer, a Yarde-Wade partnership on
the wings would certainly have given rise to plenty of support from the men
in Barbours.
I do not think too many of the prawn-sandwich brigade would have been
reflecting on their lunchtime in the car park at the expense of the rugby.
That said, the way the game is at the moment, it would not surprise me if
Chris Ashton had a spectacular game and laid down his own marker with 2015
in mind.
Finally, if there is a concern from inside of HQ about a perceived lack of
support from the seats, then the Rugby Football Union could take it upon
itself to start dropping the price of the tickets and make an England Test
match more readily available to the real rugby fans and, of course, for
those in the North who have to spend a small fortune just to get to a game
at Twickenham.
Maybe the Union could lay on some free buses from Leeds, Manchester and
Newcastle in an attempt to attract some rugby supporters to the games. You
would be sure to get a few northerners who are prepared to stand on their
feet and roar the team to victory.
Austin Healey is proud to be an ambassador of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee
Article source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/24865350
England v Argentina: Time for silent Twickenham crowd to raise their game
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