What the Ruck XII

By DC

The Media is a cruel mistress and when I say cruel Mistress I mean a six foot tall leather clad sadomasochistic bitch in high heels and a whip. If the media tells us the sky is falling then we all become Chicken Little in a split second, we suck up the media propaganda like hogs at a trough – and I for one have had enough. Some of you may be aware that the Football World Cup is going on at the moment, before hand the entire of Britain was force fed the pre tournament hype of how the World Cup was coming home and since the first kick of the match the English media have had the daggers drawn.

England crashed out of the World Cup, after a barrage of beige performances and ever since we have had radio autopsies, TV forensics and Red Top dissections – while other sporting events and teams have faced their own battles, won and lost – the English media has banged on and on and on and on about “the ball was over the line” etc – for Christ sake do they realise that there is more than one sport in the World? Do they realise that another English team have been performing galaxies better than their round ball, over paid, prima donna counter parts? In 2003 England won the Rugby World cup and for 18 months the media was in a spin and every kid on every street corner in full Jonny pose – the entire country become fans of the oval ball over night and for a few short months

The Media "A six foot tall leather clad sadomasochistic bitch in high heels and a whip"

all was rosy in the garden of the Red Rose. However time passes and the fickleness of the media fools passes just as quickly, and the victories of that day have fallen into the dark recesses of the mind.

While the round ball England bored and yawned their way around, their oval ball brothers were involved in heart in the mouth entertaining, and where was the media hype, the glowing praise .... Somewhere hidden away in the bottom left hand corner of page 56 or even worse hidden from all sight behind the shipping forecast. The media loves to build pedestals, if only to knock them down, but while one England team were getting schooled the other was ringing the bell and giving the lessons. You would think that in the darkest of hours a bright light would be the perfect cure for the complete ineptitude of the England football side – but no that would be too easy that would be too positive.

For years people have moaned and whined about the negativity of the English rugby side, myself included, the grind and kick tactic that lullabied oppositions to sleep but during the darkest day in English sport there is more that a faint light – England have started playing rugby – not yawn creating crap but giggle like a geisha entertaining rugby. While the petulant penises have been pontificating in South Africa the Warriors of the Red Rose went to war down under and came back heroes – dazzling dancing heroes. The likes of Ashton, Youngs, Foden and Cole took on the Aussies and the Maoris in their own back yard – playing attacking open expansive rugby – granted not the 1973 Barbarians but it was a start.

England played rugby with fresh air in their sails, they showed no fear, they took on the Green & Gold, they stood proud, toe to toe and scared them. The scrum with Cole in the driving seat was brutal, just look at the 2 penalty tries in the first test. Cole is the keystone for the future and if Johnson builds the pack on his rock then he will have a SERIOUS weapon in the Red Rose arsenal. The backs under the guidance of Flood unleashed danger and running terror – Foden, Ashton and Youngs played the kind of rugby I never thought I would see from England with Johnson at the helm. For many fans that bothered to look away from the draw of the round ball, the pinnacle of the tour was the victory against Australia in the second test – but for me the apex of the whole tour was the thrilling game against the Centenary Maoris – they lost 35 -28 but what a game, a pure exhibition match, the kind of match that creates fans and followers alike. While in North America, in  the Churchill Cup, the England Saxons burned up the grass – running in 15 tries in 3 matches – a pure example of power and panache. If the last few weeks are anything to go by the future is bright the future is entertaining for the Red Rose wearing warriors.

The entire England rugby setup is starting to simmer just in time for next year’s Rugby World Cup – I personally am going to have a little flutter on England scoring the most tries in next year’s six nations. When Martin Johnson was appointed as the head honcho, I was very sceptical to say the least, however Johnson has experience and on his word the players would follow. He has started to build a team of both players and coaching staff around him with one goal – another World Cup trophy, he started off at a slow simmer but you can see his vision appears to be working and the bubbles are starting to rise. Johnson now has at his disposable not just his Elite Performance Squad but also the Saxons an army that is capable of the grind and bash of old but also with thunder and lightning of entertainment.

I am a red blooded, passion filled Welshman I love my little corner of Britain I only wish that my national rugby side had the strength in depth and hunger that the Red Rose has shown over the past 4 weeks. If Wales approached the game with the same gusto as their brothers over the Bridge then maybe just maybe we would not be hanging over the edge of the abyss clinging on with the finest fingernails of hope. It is not just Wales that could learn from the path the English rugby team has taken but possibly the puffed up peacocks of the round ball could learn a few things. Appoint a leader of men, and let him lead – give him time, like a fine wine let him mature, sit back and drink in the final product. Now I am not saying that this England side are yet a fine vintage but they are gallons better than cheap plonk.

The biggest crime so far this summer is not the fact that the Gorillaz replaced U2 as the headliners at Glastonbury but the fact that the English media totally ignored the hard work and impressive displays by their own nation. The jumped up journos of England would rather knock down than build up, they take pleasure in assassination and destruction, when they should be looking for the light in the darkness they instead seek to smash bulbs and feed the darkness. The England rugby side are a team in the ascendancy, a squad that is at the foothill of the slow climb up the towering mountain of success but at least they are pointing in the right direction. Surely this is something that the people could take heart from, in the darkest of days even the smallest glimmer of light should be welcomed but what do the media do they turn their heads and ignore the opportunity to report good, positive news. Yes bad news sells papers, but it is the job of the media to inform it is a shame that they themselves lack the simple common sense to string a few words together in praise. It is a dark day when I a Welshman is calling for the English media to praise their own national side, it is even a darker day when that Welshman sees more positives then the entire national media circus combined.

Yes the media is a fickle mistress, it is also a foolish, gutless monster that does not deserve their own national team. I just hope that one person reading this article is incensed enough to stop being force fed doom and gloom, after all even the biggest of waterfalls starts with a single drop of rain.  

DC