END FOR ENGLAND, NOT THE WORLD CUP

EVEN in defeat, the hubris of the hangers-on surrounding the England camp beggars belief. Someone please put a stop to the endless stream of bilge about the Rugby World Cup having been holed below the waterline, now that the hosts are out. Sure, we all know that accepted wisdom requires the home team to hang around at least until the knockout stages, otherwise the casual fans turned on by the thought of glorious triumph will switch off in their millions. In case you’ve missed it amid the wailing, gnashing and rending of cloth, though, there are still two Home Nations teams bubbling along nicely in this Rugby World Cup. Wales have already secured their quarter-final place, while Scotland can do the same in a matter of days. Yes, the loss of England is a blow. An avoidable one, if you want to get into the ludicrously lop-sided and spectacularly premature seeding system that saw four teams from the world’s top 10 piled together in the same group. But this needn’t be The End for England 2015. Welsh fans will march on Twickenham in closequarter harmony for their last-eight eliminator, while Scotland’s own travelling army will — rugby gods willing — be afforded their own opportunity to line up at HQ. You can barely move in England these days for huge crowds of Aussie, Springbok and All Blacks fans. And that’s before we even start on the Irish. Amid this festival of sporting celebration, it almost seems rude to divert too much attention towards an inquest into what went wrong with England’s campaign. Then again, it shouldn’t take too long. As someone partially embedded in the tournament, ‘in country’ and able to observe the daily circus from arm’s length, the entire misadventure just felt a little off from the outset. The OTT marketing and accompanied advertising campaign, the best/worst of which imagined England’s players as cartoon supermen, generated interest at the expense of realism. And, just as a side issue, did England’s involvement sometimes seem like a private circus for a royal prince? Casually dropped into commentary on Saturday night was the fact that Prince Harry of Wales had been at the England team meeting ahead of the Australia game. He had even, apparently, delivered a stirring speech. There is something odd about even this clearly passionate outsider being allowed into the inner sanctum. It smacks of gimmickry. Of spin. Of over-thinking the simple matter of winning games of rugby. The teams more adept at that than England, or merely pitched into much easier pools, will keep calm and carry on. And the tournament will survive. Only just.