The England rugby team is in a bit of a state. And unless something quite strange happens in the next two Six Nations games, it appears that few English players will make the Lions tour to South Africa later this summer. It’s been 32 years since just five England players went on the tour to New Zealand and with the current set of debacles regarding English performance, it would be tough to make a case for taking many more than that number.
It’s a sad state of affairs for Martin Johnson’s men and leaves many casting their minds back, way back, to that wonderful year of 2003. Sir Clive Woodward’s golden generation got their hands on the Grand Slam, including a memorable win final game win in Ireland, and then topped off an incredible year in English rugby by dramatically winning the William Web Ellis Trophy with that last minute Jonny Wilkinson drop goal to clinch the World Cup final.
England have tried and failed since then to recreate those illustrious highs. Injuries and retirements haven’t helped but it’s churlish to point at those as the lone reasons. The World Cup final appearance in 2007 helped to paper over some of the cracks but by the time the subsequent Six Nations campaign was over, England were back to being lamented by their fans.
There are many problems - most of which are fairly evident. Discipline seems to be a key worry at the moment; Martin Johnson’s reaction to the mindless sin-binning of substitute scrum half Danny Care against Ireland last weekend shows that England are at least trying to deal with the issue. But obviously something is getting lost in translation. England lost Phil Vickery early in the second half to another needless and frustrating yellow card offence. It seems England just aren’t learning.
The English contingent in the Lions squad will be in stark comparison with those from years gone by. In 2005, England had 21 players in the squad that was soundly beaten by New Zealand and 18 in both the tours before that. And very few English players can claim to deserve a spot on the back of personal performance.
Andrew Sheridan would be a good option although he remains a shadow of the man who bullied opposition last year. Paul Sackey has also had a good enough season, not quite setting the world alight but generally being a player that England can rely on. Mike Tindall has played well in this years Six Nations but for him to dislodge centres such as Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll or Wales’ Tom Shanklin would be nigh on impossible.
Others for Lions coach Ian McGeechan to generously consider are Delon Armitage, Phil Vickery, Lee Mears and Nick Kennedy, who have all stood slightly above the rest in a white shirt recently. But English names are sparse on the list of genuine candidates. It speaks volumes for the level of rugby that England produce these days and the results only serve to reinforce this point. Martin Johnson definitely has his work cut out - perhaps he should be looking at the other home nations for inspiration?
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