A talent drain, club academies and player development mistakes have all put English rugby union on the back foot
For those who were involved within English rugby two decades ago, when Clive Woodward was building towards 2003 World Cup glory, there is no time to waste if the RFU wishes to turn the prevailing tide. Simon Halliday, the ex-England centre and former chairman of European Professional Club Rugby, has also seen close up how Ireland have bounced back since 2015-16, when none of their provincial sides reached the last eight of the Champions’ Cup.
Not so in England just now, clearly. The charge list is lengthy: narrowing the talent pathway too early, not prioritising player development between the ages of 18 and 22, allowing some club academies to prioritise their needs above those of the individual or the national interest. “People closer to the game than me are saying it’s going to take us years to get back,” says Halliday. “I’m afraid we’ve wasted a number of years by denying what the reality was. And now we are where we are.
Simon Halliday was the chairman of English Professional Club Rugby and says: ‘It’s going to take years to get back’“The structures within the RFU are all wrong. They have to review them and get it fixed. If we don’t front up and say we need to restructure now I don’t see how anything changes. There’s no point sugar-coating it and I think [RFU chief executive] Bill Sweeney knows these are major turning points. They could start by separating the professional game from the amateur game.
With Ireland Under-20s also pursuing a grand slam this weekend, again at England’s potential expense in Cork on Sunday, it may yet be that things get even worse before they get better. “If you said to me how do Ireland look between 2023 and 2027, I’d say they look as strong as they are now,” stresses Lancaster. “As France will be.”
So even if England save some face inside the Aviva, in short, the outlook is deeply problematic. In the areas of attacking detail, mindset, comparative skills and coaching inspiration, there is only one grand slam-chasing thoroughbred in this weekend’s race.
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