September - October - November

Scrum offer you an insight into the best rugby writing on the web with the return of our Rugby Today feature.

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November 22, 2008

Johnson in the firing line

Writing in the Guardian, Jon Henderson raises some damning criticisms of the new England manager.

""It (the defeat) raised questions about the manager himself. Whether, after all, it was such a good idea to put a man in charge of the national team who has no previous experience of such a task, even at club level, and whose main role since his outstanding playing career ended in 2005 has been as a corporate schmoozer. At times the England performance was little short of clueless, for which Johnson has to take much of the rap.

"After three games in charge, Johnson's record stands at an inconsequential win against the Pacific Islanders two weeks ago and two defeats, the first against Australia last weekend and now this record thrashing by a South Africa side whose scrambled victories against Wales and Scotland had alerted England to the possibility of a morale-bolstering success."

Henderson's Guardian colleague Michael Aylwin was no less scathing in his appraisal.

""Where to start? This was bad. Quite possibly the worst we have seen from an England side in recent times, which is saying something. Come back, Brian Ashton, all is forgiven.

"There are mitigating circumstances, of course. For a start, this is a young and inexperienced side, which is very unlike England, and we cannot suddenly complain about that when for years we were moaning that they were too old.

"But this is a second profoundly sobering defeat this autumn, with the All Blacks still to come, and so far there seems to be a distinct lack of positives being taken from them. If there is inexperience on the field, there is even more of it in the stands. At least everyone on the pitch has played rugby before. The man managing the outfit has never managed anything before. It seems ridiculous to look at the battered brow of Martin Johnson and call it inexperienced, but this is a new challenge for him - and not new as in a new degree of difficulty; new as in he has literally never had a go at it."

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November 16, 2008

Southern hemisphere raises the bar

Writing in the Observer, Jon Henderson sings the praises of the scrappy Wallabies.

""Once again Australia and England showed they are two nations deeply divided by a shared passion for getting stuck in to each other on the rugby field. Their collisions - this one scrappy but still fierce - are becoming an autumnal ritual of fists and mellow brutalness, but, given the result, we should on this occasion salute resilience in the face of shuddering intimidation."

Mick Cleary took aim at the lack of discipline from England in The Sunday Telegraph

"Like a preacher from the pulpit, Martin Johnson will urge his players to keep the faith, to believe in the system and in their ability to make it happen. Too many players ditched the game plan in the heat of battle; too many fell by the wayside. Johnson wants believers, not flaky adherents.

"Johnson's frustrated tone made clear that he felt that if his players had obeyed instructions, they would have given themselves a great chance of landing a notable victory. Johnson dismissed the notion, though, that England had already run into their first spot of adversity, or that his side lacked leadership. He was certainly in no mood to lump the blame on captain, Steve Borthwick."

Ian Stafford wrote of a reality check for England in The Mail on Sunday

"Reality has arrived in English rugby, served up in huge dollops by an Australian team who exposed Martin Johnson's side for what they are - a talented, young outfit with bags of potential, but with a pack failing to deliver yet again, and a new manager who must have been sorely tempted to rip off his suit, put on his boots and run out into the fray."

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November 9, 2008

Debutant stops Italians with disputed try

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Greg Growden reports from Australia's narrow victory over Italy in Padova.

"The Italian protests were just part of a confusing afternoon, which saw the match played on a field clearly smaller than the usual dimensions. The Wallabies team management had complained before the game that the length of the field was about five metres too short, the in-goal was minimal, and the width of the field had been tightened. But there was nothing anyone could do about that because the field was surrounded by an athletic track."

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November 9, 2008

Boks soar... for a while

The Springboks escaped in Cardiff according to Mike Greenaway - writing in the Sunday Independent he offers his views on South Africa's tour opener.

"A ruthlessly efficient first half performance from the Springboks, straight out of their Rugby World Cup text book, was sufficient to see off a plucky but inefficient Wales - but only just.

"This was a sobering slap of reality for the South Africans in this first match of a tour that is unashamedly a precursor to the British and Irish Lions tour in June. The basic lesson learned will be that resting on laurels in test matches is the preserve of the foolish."

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November 9, 2008

All Blacks sloppy against enterprising Scots

Gregor Paul offers his assessment of the All Blacks' victory over Scotland at Murrayfield in the New Zealand Herald.

"The All Blacks will leave Edinburgh having failed to answer some key questions.

"They got the job done in terms of producing the desired result but it was only half a performance. The enterprise and resistance of the Scots was a big factor in diluting the quality of the All Blacks' work, as was referee Wayne Barnes who really should be thanked for his contribution and then encouraged into a new career - one that doesn't afford him any authority."

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November 9, 2008

Time to get shirty over England jerseys

Former England international Stuart Barnes, writing in the Sunday Times, passes judgement on the new-look England following their victory over the Pacific Islanders.

"England played out of their skins against the Pacific Islanders; not in the sense that they were particularly brilliant, but in the way they changed their approach to the game.

"For the past five years the team has essentially been based upon the bludgeon, based around the front five. Yesterday the attacking emphasis switched from the front row to the back three. It was refreshing."

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November 9, 2008

England still dominate Australian scrum

Paul Ackford previews England's clash with Australia this weekend and singles out the scrum as a key point of contact. Read his assessment in the Daily Telegraph.

"England screwed them at Twickenham in 2005 when Baxter was yellow-carded for deliberately collapsing the scrum, and the England forwards pulverised the Australian pack again in the World Cup quarter-final in Marseille when Andrew Sheridan delivered a performance of staggering cruelty.

"In my experience, no other side of Australia's stature and quality has existed at the sharp end of international rugby for so long with such a fundamental flaw to their game, begging the questions: how and why have they got away with it for so long? "

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November 9, 2008

Backs give Johnson a sound grounding for sterner Tests

Writing in the Observer, Jon Henderson find splenty of positives in England's first performance in the Martin Johnson era.

"The backs, the most distinctive element of Johnson's first selection, were under the greatest scrutiny yesterday, behind a pack that was solidly reliable all afternoon. Only two of the seven players outside the scrum - Jamie Noon and Paul Sackey - were England regulars.

"Of the other five, full-back Delon Armitage, centre Riki Flutey and wing Ugo Monye were, like their manager, debutants, while the Dannys at half-back, Cipriani and Care, had two full caps between them. None did his prospects of playing against Australia any harm and of those who gave theirs a definite boost Care and Armitage were the pick.

"Care is a real livewire, a scrum-half with fast hands and quick feet. He may have provided Johnson with a regular No 9 after a series of dud auditions by others, although Harry Ellis may have something to say about this."

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November 9, 2008

Time to get shirty over England jerseys

Writing in the Sunday Times, Stephen Jones questions England's sartorial choices.

"After one significant hammering in a school game decades ago, I remember my mother consoling me with marvellous news that I looked great in my jersey. It obviously made up for the pain of conceding all those points but it was a consolation surely not available yesterday from the mothers of any of the England team.

"Some of us are not reckoned to be in the top bracket when it comes to assessment of fashion but I thought England looked ghastly and ridiculous. I'm not for a moment denying the impact and fund-raising capabilities of the replica jersey market but this kit, modelled by Danny Cipriani, is only going to sell to any member of the public wishing to look like a clown who has spent too long dallying in an abattoir."

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November 8, 2008

Blunt, direct, honest: new management is setting positive tone

England international James Haskell offers an insight into Martin Johnson's effect on the England camp in his blog for the Guardian.

"The younger players can't help but respect him. He's been on the other side of the fence and has seen everything there is to see. The first time I met Martin a few years ago Joe Worsley teased me afterwards, saying I looked nervous, was burbling my words and resembled a rabbit caught in the headlights. He was probably right. I was just 18 and it was a bit of a shock, coming face to face with the man who'd lifted the World Cup. You don't look at him and think: "What are you talking about?" His man-management since we've been together has been excellent. There's been no talking for the sake of talking, just a quiet word here or there. He's blunt and direct but I like that sort of honesty."

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November 8, 2008

How precedent Obama gives Scotland hope

Writing in the Daily Mail, Peter Jackson previews Scotland's chances against the All Blacks.

"How strange that a nation of inventors who gave mankind the telephone, the steam engine, the television set, penicillin and the raincoat have failed so miserably to devise a way of beating two little islands on the other side of the world. No wonder, therefore, that Graham Henry chose to rest 80 per cent of his first-choice team after breezing into Edinburgh at the start of the projected Grand Slam tour."

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