Mailbox: Beware the underdog
Whilst the world is getting carried away with New Zealand’s exit at the hand of World Cup hosts France at the weekend, one must not forget the ‘other’ upset that took place just hours beforehand in Marseilles.
England, against all the odds, quite literally booted Australia out of the tournament with a well constructed 12-10 victory over the two-time world champions.
Jonny Wilkinson again proved to be the Wallabies worst nightmare with his four penalty kicks at goal that left Australia crying crocodile tears after the match.
This is what you had to say…
“Well done ENGLAND. A good and much needed win over Australia with excellent forward power and Johnny’s boot. Had there been more momentum and team support, it’s fair to say England would have had tries.
“They will need them against the French, who should not be underestimated having knocked New Zealand out the World Cup 3 times.”
– P. S. Gibbs
“I bet John O’ Neill really hates us now.”
– Stuart (Jersey)
“Only through Wilkinson could such a s**t team make it to the semis.”
– Vaughan Billing (Rugby fan in Canada)
“May I just say, as an Englishman who “loves” Australia and Australians and am grateful for the kindness and civility shown to me on those occasions when I have been Down Under and who firmly believes that the Aussie XV have more than one “world class player,” a big THANK YOU to John O’Neill and assorted others who voiced their bile before the quarter-final.
“It was as Josh Lewsey said just what was needed to give the English team a fillip. England were wonderful in victory but the Australian team was dignified in defeat – more than can be said for their Chief Executive. Qantas must be overbooked now for flights from France to Sydney.”
– Bill (Devon)
“It’s the old story, ‘Beware the underdog!’. Well done England.”
– Dave (South Africa)
“Please, give England as winners for the next game. Each time you have predicted a French win against a major team we lost. The reverse was true though so please keep keeping us as underdogs!!!”
– Frogman
“I am sure you are being bombarded by comments after that great victory. I am not a big rugby fan but can I just say the quality of your quickly written report is top notch, almost poetic, so much better than the usual dross which is written in these situations.
“Cheers!”
– Simon Harris
“I never believed we would get trashed in this match – but anticipated being narrowly beaten (with the usual “it was so close, it could have been our game” tradition hanging over me).
“Hats off to England though, what an extraordinary performance, (out of nowhere) from the England pack.
“Today, it’s an absolute delight to be able to write this, and what a joy to experience, (after so, so, so, long) respect, pride, and admiration for an England team.
“If, Down Under, you’re feeling shell shocked and desolate, then maybe you should cast your minds back to the build up to this match.
Ozzy conceit, arrogance. and most importantly a “we just have to turn up to win” attitude – epitomized by John Connolly, have brought you to where you are now.
“Undoubtedly, England will struggle against the All Blacks, should they win through against France. But hey – at the very least. it’s a struggle which they’ve earned their’ right to confront!
“Finally, all respect due to George Gregan – what a fantastic player. The world of rugby will be a lesser place without him. Despite my pleasure in the outcome, it’s with sadness that we bid him an international farewell.”
– Nick (Sussex, England)
“Great, another northern hemisphere referee being intimidated by a front row into giving penalty after penalty at the scrum. Either the Wallabies (who promised us they’d fixed the problems with the front row) are so bad at scrummaging that it’s not funny or other teams are using underhanded tactics to force penalties, not to mention the endless chatter from England’s forwards (why did the ref only get snipey at Gregan and the Australians for their chit-chat?). The scrum shouldn’t be an automatic penalty- something is seriously wrong and needs to be addressed.
“Congrats to England though- the sort of attacking, positive rugby we thought they couldn’t play came back to bite us well and truly.”
– Jules (Melbourne)
“I’d normally be barracking for Oz like crazy. But not this time. The stupid pre-game trash talk and comments from John O’Neill and from several of the players who should know better, or be taught better, really got up my nose. Why do Australian sporting teams thinks it’s smart to demean opposition teams and players? The real champions are players and teams whose actions on the field show their worth – off the field they unfailingly show respect to the opposition. Time was Australian teams and sports people did just that. Now, increasingly, we come across as arrogant, disrespectful.
“So England, congratulations. A very well-earned victory. Not quite a fairy story, but certainly a terrific win against the odds and the pundits – and arrogance.”
– Clive Willingham (Hobart)
“Still World Champions, and sadly it is the Aussies who are now whinging, let us all hope that those Aussies who talk about hating the English eat a little humble pie and accept they got it wrong.”
– Toddy
“As for England. The last time Aussie beat them in a World cup was way back in 1991. All they could do was go crying to Referees that Ronnie Regan might be rude to them. The English forwards absolutely smashed them. The Aussie scrum was again shown to be dire. No match for Sheridan and the rest of the English front row. Fair play to Alain Rolland who was not fooled by the Aussie antics in this department.
“The ABs and Aussie dumped out of the World Cup in the quarter-finals.
“What a great tournament. Lets hope Argentina can progress and before we have all the claims that they are South Hemisphere, remember, virtually all their 1st XV play in Europe.
“Maybe, just maybe, Argentina will be allowed into the Tri- Nations or Six Nations tournaments with immediate effect.
“Meanwhile, I hope the supermarkets in the antipodes have plenty of Kleenex for all those tears.”
– Keith Charge
“We can wait until tomorrow before dissecting the England effort but for now the England team deserve a day to revel in their victory.
“Knock-out matches almost without exception are games where one doesn’t see the best Rugby played. They are one-off winner takes all affairs where the result more than not is all about who wants it the most.
“Yesterday Australia were rocked, no, obliterated by a team that blew them away not only in the scrum but in the loose. On about the tenth minute the ball was kicked ahead into the Aussie half and Chris Latham was caught by Sackey. He was followed by most of the English pack who simply rucked over Latham and others with the ball coming out at the back of the English hind feet. It was textbook Kiwi rucking of the highest order.
“England know their frailties but they also know their strengths and one simply has to applaud the way the English played to these strengths. So one can be critical of a team’s lack of skills or creativity especially in the backs but the guys played their high cards with a commitment and strength of will that has to be admired.
“So well done England. You will need to repeat that performance and more to win against a French side who will be buoyed by their result yesterday and a home crowd who will undoubtedly be fanatically behind the Tri-Colours.”But you are 80 minutes away from being in a position to exact revenge from a Springbok side that took you apart a week or two ago. Bet you never thought that could happen so soon.”
– Graham Baker
“As a proud English supporter I was I was absolutely ecstatic with the win over the Aussies yesterday. We’ve had to put up with a lot of crap from the Aussies mouthing off in the press over the last week and that made it even sweeter – it amazes me that in sport so many people just don’t seem to learn that you save your bragging till after you’ve done it not before.
“The English pack were awesome yesterday – they used their raw power in a more intelligent way than has been evident of late, and to think that we absolutely destroyed them at the breakdown made their display even more incredible. There were also signs in the first 20 minutes that when we put a bit of pace on the ball our backs can look dangerous although improvement is still needed there if we are to convert our possession into more points.
“As for the AB’s, I have to say I feel for them. To me they’re still the best team in the world and the one I like to watch the most. I’m sure the repercussions will be felt far and wide – not least with the sacking of Graham Henry. But you have to ask yourselves, with international matches won and lost on such small margins how can any of the AB’s coaching team possibly prepare and allow for what was in my opinion an absolutely shocking decision by the ref to sin bin McCallister – I didn’t even think it was a penalty and in my view it totally changed the game.”
– Gareth (Gosport)
“As someone who had previously written off England and had given them no hope I would gladly eat my words and eat them by the library full!. Well what can i say but to the English well done your victory was thoroughly deserved and although I am not a fan of watching England play but I strangely found you guys quite entertaining through the spirit that you guys displayed. I guess it does prove that pride, passion, and spirit especially when the chips are down will win you matches. And especially when it matters. As an ALL BLACKS fan I hope the ALL BLACKS take a leaf out of your book about winning matches that should be won, especially when they are the important ones. Well i cant say that I’ll be cheering for you guys against the French in your next game where as a fan of flair and running rugby I’ll be hoping that they will be the ones to be crowned the World Champions of this tournament, but nevertheless i wish you guys the best of luck against them and i hope to see more of that dogged Bulldog English spirit.”
– William Kailomani
