England had a blistering start with 10 points on the board in the first 13 minutes, 5 of which came from what will probably be the try of the tournament by Paul Sachi.

Jonny Wilkinson’s foot was perfect as usual.

England have played an excellent first half and the statistics don’t match the performance.  France have the majority of the possession but, tellingly, they also have the most errors.

The only danger is that we see a repeat of last week’s performance against France where England dominated the first half and then capitulated during the second half and lost the match.

The score at half time was 13-7 to England.

Technorati Tags: Rugby, Six Nations, England, France

Inspired by Alfie, I put pen finger to paper keyboard once again and asked the RFU to stop playing God Save the Queen before England matches.

Hi,

Our glorious leader has pronounced that deciding which national anthem to play before sporting events is not a matter for the British government and is, instead, the responsibility of the governing body of the sport in question.

Bearing this in mind, can I ask that you please refrain from playing the BRITISH national anthem before ENGLISH rugby matches?

I’m sure that God Save the Queen is very popular amongst the blazer wearing VIP’s in the hospitality lounge but they are only a small group of people.  I think that if you asked the question – perhaps by canvassing the England supporters club – whether fans would rather hear the British national anthem when England play or whether they would rather have an English song such as Jerusalem, they would choose the latter.

Personally, I can’t bring myself to listen to the British national anthem when England is playing and either mute the television or change the channel whilst it is being played.

I’ve written before about the British anthem being played before English games and was given the excuse that Princess Anne is the patron of the RFU.  If you were planning to use that as an excuse again, can you please tell me what Princess Anne thinks about playing an English anthem before an English game?

Regards,

Stuart Parr

If you’re interested in an anthem for England, take a look at the Anthem for England website.

Technorati Tags: Anthem, England, Rugby

Bloody hell.  When was the last time England didn’t qualify for a European Championship?  Other than when we were banned from European football for having slightly more troublemakers than Vatican United and about 5 million percent less than, for instance, Turkey or Poland.  But that’s another story.

England lost 3-2 to Croatia last night and failed to qualify for Euro 2008.  Croatia and Russia topped England’s group and qualified for next years tournament.  At least we finished above Andorra.

Steve Maclaren was sacked this morning.  Which is nice.  I actually agree with the decision to sack Maclaren – I thought employing him was a bad idea in the first place – but the manager can’t take all the blame.  Putting a 22 year old kid in goal and leaving Beckham on the bench for the first 45 minutes was sucidal.  However, the national squad is supposed to be the cream of English football.  If the tactics the manager has decided on aren’t working, they shouldn’t have to wait until half time or some big girls blouse needs a medic for a broken nail before they change how they play.  Watch Brazil play – if something’s not working they change it.  Yes, we need a decent manager.  But more importantly, we need to shove a rocket up our players’ collective arses and tell them to use their bloody initiative.

It’s been suggested that Alan Shearer is after the job.  Sounds good to me but as long as the next manager isn’t Scottish, Welsh or Irish I don’t care who it is as long as we start winning something.

Technorati Tags: England, Football

This is the match that matters.  Israel have to beat Russia to give England a chance of qualifying for next years Euro 2008.  Something you’ll not see very often on this blog – I’m supporting Israel!

Israel has taken an early lead, currently winning 1-0.

Update:
Israel won 2-1 which means England are still in with a chance.

Technorati Tags: Football, Israel, Russia

Well, I’d like to say that England outplayed France and the victory was well deserved but it was a bit of a fluke to be honest.

France and England both played pretty poorly interspersed with some moments of excellent play.  The highlight of the match – other than beating France and getting to the final of course – was securing the record for the fastest ever try in world cup rugby.

On, now, to the world cup and a chance to pay back the South Africans for their humiliation a few weeks ago.

Technorati Tags: England, France, Rugby