Regular readers of my outpourings will know I have three major dislikes.


1)       Bad sportsmanship

2)       Bad Manners (especially those brought on by excess alcohol)

3)      Liberal Democrats


However watching the England V Ireland match I did very nearly gain a 4th, Professional Ineptitude. Time and again I could not fathom how a team of paid sportsman, mascarading as the best the nation could offer, could be quite such a rabble as they were.

(But Ref, you let Martin Johnson get away with murder) 

 Any team can have a bad day but there was something more wrong going on. England did not stand up to Ireland’s physicality, when the home side came gunning for Martin Corry where was the ‘All For One’ style retaliation? The lack of discipline was shocking, England were not being pinged for technical infrigements it was simple stuff that required just an element of concentration. And if you know you might get a yellow card at least make it worthwhile, I mean when was the last time Martin Johnson had 10 minutes in the bin just for being offside at a ruck? 
 

If individual decision making was poor then team cohesion appeared to come in a pretty distant last. Whatever defensive system England were nominally using in the first half could reasonably have been described as free for all, thereby giving the green jersies the freedom of Croake Park. Perhaps the post match criticism of Andy Farrell is a little harsh but for all his obvious skills it is difficult to see which position he can fill on the Union field. For the game against France it should be assumed he will be trying out the position of bench warmer, perhaps the splinters in the 15 a side game will be more to his liking.


 Pressure is a funny thing. We all can feel it in in any walk of life but the best should surely be able to deal with it better than they did. Everyone seems to have forgotten that for all the dewey eyed build up to the match (which centred on anything but the game) the real pressure was on the Irish boys to perform. If England had kept it tight the expectation from the stands could have done the job for them, as it was they lost the plot and were swept away by the green tidal wave.

 
When I see a group of lads representing my country at the top level of Sport I want to see pride, I want to see the National Anthem belted out at many decibles and I don’t care how tuneless and flat it sounds on the effects microphone. I want the men in the white shirts to realise that they carry the hopes of a nation on their shoulders and act like it actually matters to them, I don’t want some Spice Boy jogging round a pitch to boost his image. I’m tired of seeing other teams beating England because they simply seem to want it more. If the Three Lions doesn’t motivate then get someone else in.

 
 I can deal with bad sportsmanship at my own particular level,  I can lampoon bad manners and set a better example myself, I can always vote against Ming Campbell’s museli eaters but I can’t do anything other than sit and suffer as our ‘elite’ are put to the sword.

 
 Think back to the European Cup Final where the Tigers were thumped by Brive in Cardiff, as the French ran out of the tunnel at a hundred mile an hour with a steely eyed determination you knew there was a problem. What did we get? Magnus Lund grovelling to the ref for an over enthuiastic tackle. Could you imagine Malcolm Marshall apologising for bowling a bouncer? Thought not!

 
The forthcoming match against the French will say a lot. I, for one, will be watching from behind the sofa.