The enthusiasm for the England rugby team is as predictable as it is baffling. Beating a bunch of welsh fatties coached by a hateful, incompetent kiwi and some italian part timers (don't you just love Mirco Bergamasco - the bloke is sub club level) does not a great team make. We might even beat the French. Still proves nothing. What folk tend to forget is that journalists are salesmen... their job is to right stuff people want to read, so they buy more papers.
Which is why they continually reinvent history. In November last year, Martin Johnson was useless, now suddenly he is the great brooding leader again, inspiring his players to geat things.
While the grotesque over-analysis might not match that of the corrupt cesspit that is football, the short memories of those in the media is astonishing. And we let them get away with it. Sheesh, I remember that idiot Stephen Jones calling Gavin Henson "the most talented player in Europe" while he still eulogises over the absurdly over-rated Juan Martin Hernandez. Meanwhile the otherwise competent Mick Cleary bangs on about England's "new found sense of adventure" or whatever cliche he can be bothered to spout that week.
The reality is that England were blessed with a once in a generation set of players in 2002-3 and we still lag behind the very best. Like football, it is truly depressing to see the clubs starting to call the shots, while I am afraid to say physically, we are some way behind both those entirely humourless South Africans and the teeth grindingly arrogant pacific islanders (by which I mean New Zealand). Any international team which has the laughably lightweight dandy Toby Flood at fly half, the absurdly monickered kiwi "Shonatayne Hape" at Inside Centre and the woeful Mark Cueto on the wing is hardly going to be a world beater. And note, Ashton, bless his little pikey socks, would have scored none of the tries he has scored recently against New Zealand as he ain't fast enough.
All I am saying is just hold fire on the excitement for the time being.
And while I'm there, I am loving the on-going fall of Danny Cipriani. I remember having arguments on the Planet Rugby chat boards with idiots claiming young Danny to be the best player in the world and the future of England rugby, conveniently forgetting he can't tackle, can't kick off his right foot, has dismal game management skills and is clearly a most thoroughly distasteful individual. As always, I was proved entirely right. Now he can't even get into the Melbourne Rebels side and there are rumours all over the place about his attitude in training. I am very happy to go on record and predict with absolute confidence, Cipriani won't get anywhere near an England cap and I fully expect him to be playing club rugby in France in 2012 when the Aussies tire of his tedious attitude.
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