It was reported yesterday that England players would not be allowed to write columns or make video diaries during the World Cup next year, as they have done at previous tournaments and indeed as most sportsmen do across all sports when there are major sporting occasions.
The decision came from Stuart Lancaster directly, who is worried about his players having extra distractions during a tournament in which they are going to be under the brightest spotlight anyway, given their status as hosts.
You might ask why. What harm can come from hearing from the players during the World Cup? It’s nice to get an insight into what they’re thinking and doing during some of the biggest weeks of their lives. And besides, everything has to be approved by the RFU anyway, so what’s the worst that could happen?
To be honest, that last point is a problem in itself anyway – everything gets so heavily filtered these days that anything interesting usually goes missing, and you end up with a lot of ‘the boys are excited for the weekend’ and ‘we won’t be taking [insert opposition here] lightly’.
That in itself is not an issue for Lancaster and his players – I doubt he cares about the readers’ interest. No, what he will be worried about is a repeat of the 2011 debacle.
England’s 2011 World Cup came to be defined by the contrast between the colourful outrageousness of their behaviour off the pitch and the dull monotony of their play on it. Dwarf-tossing, hotel workers allegedly teased with sexual comments, extra-curricular diving lessons in Auckland Harbour – you name it, they did it.
In disciplinary terms, it was a complete nightmare, and with the hindsight of England’s early and ultimately tame exit from the tournament, it looks even more farcical.
Some of the video diaries were funny, sure, but watching them back now (see below), you can almost see why England had such a torrid time on the pitch. It doesn’t come across as the most professional of environments, and having free reign with a camera would certainly have spurred them on.
Video credit: O2
Given how hard these players work they are absolutely entitled to blow off steam, and if they want to do that through some harmless idiocy then so be it. Boys will always be boys and there will be inside jokes in every squad, but they should remain just there – inside the squad.
And in a year’s time, if, heaven forbid, England’s World Cup campaign underwhelms, they will be all the better off for not having broadcast squad ‘banter’ all over the internet.
Hats off to Chris Robshaw, who produced a sublime display for Harlequins against Wasps to answer all the critics who had been prematurely calling for his replacement in the England team. He outplayed James Haskell and reminded us all that there’s a reason why he’s been Lancaster’s number one all this time.
The likes of Fraser and Haskell will push him hard, but, barring injury, it’s almost impossible to see anyone other than Robshaw running out with the England number seven shirt on his back this time next year.
Aaron Cruden must be kicking himself. He’s been the All Blacks’ number two fly-half behind Dan Carter for a while now, and let’s face it, given Carter’s injury troubles that means he’s essentially been their first choice for some time.
But Beauden Barrett has many fans and has been knocking hard at the door, always impressing in a black shirt and never more so than in his first start with 10 on his back a few weeks ago. Still, though, the shirt was given straight back to Cruden when he returned from injury.
Now he’s been dropped for the next two games, that status could be in doubt. Barrett will play for the remainder of the Rugby Championship and don’t expect him to show any compassion – if he performs well the New Zealand management may well decide that he is the new man in possession of the shirt.
It’s not been an easy week for the Leicester Tigers, so kudos to Richard Cockerill for his mature stance on the Geoff Parling concussion issue. The England second row has been concussed five times in the last year, and there must now be serious questions raised about his long term health.
It is further headache in what has been yet another injury-plagued start to a season for his side, but fair play to Cockerill for saying Parling won’t play again until he has been cleared by a specialist – as he points out, at the end of the day rugby is just a game and is no where near as important as the health of those that play it.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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Well so much for freedom of speech I guess. On the other hand Graham Henry would no doubt agree with Lanc’s policy following the utterances of Healy & Dawson all those yrs ago. However, is this restriction stuff because SL thinks he players are kids not to be trusted? And if he (as others seem to do) blames England’s last WC performance on off field hi jinks, then he’s somewhat deluded methinks. England got beaten on the day by France (it happens). If they (France), had ‘run up the white flag as the always do v England’ according to, ‘sealed lips gather no feet’, Guscott, then this whole blame thing would likely have been a non starter. I’ve said before that, post SCW, all of England’s mangers have fared only so, so & SL himself is not exempt from such scrutiny. His team has remained @ No 4 in the rankings under his tenure (SCW agrees) & he’s lost his last 4 on the bounce to NZ. Surely it’s mostly to do with the coaching of & execution of effective rugby that’s the important ingredient in a team’s on field success & not occasional extra curricular activities when players blow off steam to ease pressure in stressful environments.
Next they will be banned from throwing smaller people around pubs, told not to abuse hotel staff and prevented from jumping from ferries in broad daylight..oh and being photographed with some women other than the wife.
Or even driving golf buggies down the motorway or fights outside kebab shops?
The buggie guy will never play for Wales again
As for kebab guy he should never play again for Wales either.
Whereas all the England internationals who misbehave in any way know they will get picked again and again because the RFU has a track record of allowing their players to do as they like.
In 1987 4 England players were given RFU lifetime bans that lasted 1 match!
In the 2000s we had a guy who claimed to be a drug dealer … lost the England captain’s armband but kept getting picked by England.
We have the RFU citing officer who struck a Scottish player off the ball in a Calcutta match and the RFU sought a court injunction to stop the BBC showing the footage of the England player’s actions in a programme about violence in sport.
Would this be the same England player who in 1995 ran over a teenage girl fracturing her skull when he was over the drink-drive limit?
Oh yeah the same guy who broke Phil Davies’ cheekbone in 3 places in the above mentioned 1987 5 Nations game.
Benjit know your facts before you throw bricks from the RFU glass house!
As usual I skip over ‘Don P’s’ comments and go straight to the others