“…they played the quarters and semis with the kind of rugby that made me want to crush Mr. Wilkinson’s legs.”
And so the extraordinary adventure of the most incredible comeback in English rugby history has reached its amazing climax and is fitting an awarding winning epic movie. Even though it was frustrating that the finals was once again won in a maddening manner – penalty kicks, the most grating and annoying Rugby World Cup final win should still definitely go to the decisive drop-kick of 2003. And thank God the defending champions decided to be straight with the game.
Just after South Africa thrashed England 36-0 five weeks ago and just after they’ve won their quarters and semis like rugby homosexuals, many would say that England rugby is a rotten sissy and the chariot is destined for hell. Well, the Stade de France was certainly a true illustration of Lucifer’s version of home. The English had ground their way into the stadium with a display of bulldog fighting spirit that should make every English rugby fan’s chest a little bit more puffed out. For the spirit displayed by the England team was one that is reflected in epic war movies like 300, Last Samurai and Braveheart. Sporting analogies can be taken too far, but England’s use of their limited abilities and their sheer bloody-mindedness and chutzpah is a characteristic that has shown itself throughout British history.
Brian Ashton took a team to France that many thought would be a national embarrassment. That fear seemed to have been confirmed when they struggled to beat the slapdash United States and going into the tournament finals with the worst and embarrassing rugby of any top team. They were such underdogs coming into the finals that they played the quarters and semis with the kind of rugby that made me want to crush Mr. Wilkinson’s legs. Read here to know why. But yesterday’s night rumble has certainly got me respecting the English team once more. They certainly (finally) deserved the pedestal as the finalist of the Rugby 2007 World Cup.
But nevertheless, the team that I will never forget are the Pumas – Argentina.
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