England make the 2007 RWC final
England made a disastrous start to the 2007 World Cup. They struggled past the USA in their opening game – only getting ahead in the final 10 minutes.
Next up were the Springboks. And England were dire. They were hammered 36- 0 and were lucky to get nil. It was a rout and there really didn’t look like there was any way England could turn things around.
To those on the outside things looked terminal and as it transpired when two senior players – Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt – released biographies shortly after the tournament, it looked much the same to those inside.
“Had a stranger walked in on any training session before the World Cup, he wouldn’t have had a clue who was in charge,” Dallaglio wrote in his book.
“I hope I’m not going to lose a friendship over what I say about Brian, who was a good coach who I believe was in the wrong role. Head coach of the England team demands management skills that, in my honest appraisal, Brian doesn’t have.”
England managed to squeeze past Samoa and Tonga with unconvincing wins. Then against all the odds, they beat Australia in the quarter- final, played solidly to defeat France next and were actually by far the better team in the final – played all the rugby – but didn’t have any luck. They lost 15- 6 to South Africa but the fact they were even there was amazing.