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England v Argentina Review
Author: Pete South 11/09/2011
2011 Rugby World Cup
Mistakes that have haunted English rugby rose to the top and crystallised as Martin Johnson’s band of weary troops misfired to victory against Argentina.
Were it not for the timely injection of pace brought about by the introduction of the much missed Ben Youngs then England would have been looking down the all too familiar barrel of defeat.
It took but a matter of minutes for the usual platitudes to appear online, a win is a win the great and wise pointed out, and with it missed the point altogether – sure it was a win, but at what cost?
The cost of the head coach’s sanity? Johnson grew angrier and angrier as English mistake was swiftly followed up by a short sharp blast of referee Bryce Lawrence’s whistle; the eyes raised to the sky in frustration soon changed to a hammering of the desk in front of him as another penalty went against his side.
This was a shuddering encounter, one in which England were guilty of so many infringements in the first half that it felt like Nick Easter and Steve Thompson in particular were on a mission to see how close to the ever blurred lines of right and wrong in the ruck; these are lines which should have learned well before the game, no matter how blurry.
Perhaps symbolic of England’s struggles was the man who was often their saviour, the man who had been hand-picked to implement England’s conservative game plan, Jonny Wilkinson.
It would be wrong to lay the blame solely at Wilkinson’s door; he was as much as at fault as his stuttering pack who failed to help establish not only a foothold in the game, but also anything approaching rhythm – the fact that an arm wrestle won in the scrum after Dylan Hartley and Matt Stevens were brought was celebrated so vigorously in the closing stages was testament to how badly they had performed for the majority of the game.
That his usual reliable left boot had betrayed him was not why England had performed so woefully. Sure, his constant misses meant England were pulled back into a slugfest too often, but the fact that there was little other game plan other than attempt to batter Argentina into submission meant that as soon as Wilkinson couldn’t turn the aggression into points left England looking lost and hopeless.
Argentina were no mugs, and this was never going to be a walk in the park. France had their fingers burnt by the Pumas four years ago and England would have done well to learn the lessons of that game. They swarmed and harried and dragged England down into the mud, even if they looked to have been heading that way through their own volition.
The Pumas faded badly just as England must at least be credited for rousing a response to their abject display in the final ten minutes.
So where now for England? They must search their souls and search them thoroughly. Ever since the defeat against Ireland the green shots of progress show earlier on in the 6 Nations have been trampled by a game based around muscle that stifles any creativity. Do they want to go through this tournament, be knocked out and wonder what might have been? There is still time for redemption, but some questions that have needed to be asked for a while now must be answered, and answered honestly.
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