Decision that ended England’s dream
Burrell told he was in, then ditched in favour of Burgess
ENGLISH rugby chiefs will begin their inquest into the country’s worst ever World Cup campaign tomorrow morning as more details emerge about tensions in Stuart Lancaster’s squad.
England beat Uruguay 60-3 in their final Pool A match in Manchester last night, but RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie will start the process of unpicking the disastrous efforts which saw them become the first home nation in history not to qualify for the knock-out stages following defeats to Wales and Australia. The Mail on Sunday have learned that axed centre Luther Burrell had been given assurances he would be in the final 31-man squad by head coach Lancaster only to be dropped at the last minute in favour of rugby league convert Sam Burgess.
The decision, which sent shockwaves through the England camp, came about because of pressure applied by Lancaster’s coaching lieutenants Andy Farrell and Mike Catt. ‘Luther was absolutely devastated to be told he wasn’t in,’ said one England insider.
‘He believed every conversation he’d had with Stuart indicated he would be included. To hear Sam had been selected on the call of other coaches made it even tougher to take. Several players were shocked by the decision.’ The selection of Burgess — unproven in union but picked largely for leadership credentials — also undermined captain Chris Robshaw in his team-mates eyes.
Burgess is understood to have irked some players by standing up on a team bus on the way back from a training session in Denver and telling his team-mates they needed to raise their intensity in training.
Robshaw’s position has been further hampered by tensions among the players’ wives and girlfriends caused by his opera singing girlfriend Camilla Kerslake releasing a single ‘Come Home’ the day after the World Cup opening ceremony.
AS no-win games go, this was the ultimate. The scoreline said England won, but hope had long since been lost.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster insisted that the last impression his England players left would be the one they will be remembered for. If only. This game will be forgotten in a heartbeat.
The World Cup party is going on without the Red Rose and the grisly process of establishing ‘why’ will begin tomorrow. One thing is for sure, this World Cup campaign will be remembered as the worst-ever by England.
If it proves to be Lancaster’s last international in charge, it will be a sorry way for the proud Cumbrian to end four years of tireless effort that has ended with no tangible reward.
While the crowd cheered and laughed and threw their paper planes, the Manchester City Stadium was quite a fun place to be. But as England ran riot in the second half, Lancaster stood stonyfaced in the coach’s box. He feels he’s let the nation down. It will take some time for him to smile again.
Last night, England’s young threequarters ran some pretty lines while their forwards didn’t lose a scrum against the head to part-time opponents, as they did against Fiji a fortnight ago.
Anthony Watson again played very well on the wing while Nick Easter scored three tries on what was probably his last international appearance. In doing so he became the oldest hat-trick scorer in Test history at 37 and 56 days. Diego Ormaechea, who was 40 when he became the oldest try scorer at a World Cup in 1999, is the father of current Uruguay scrum half, Agustin.
Exeter’s Henry Slade proved what we’ve known for months: he should have played from the start of the tournament.
But, as exercises in straw clutching go, that was about it.
England’s players will return to their clubs this week knowing that, while their commitment to the cause cannot be questioned, their skills, fitness, discipline, technique and decision-making all can.
It has all been so utterly disappointing.
Last week’s humbling defeat by Australia ended England’s interest at the pool stages for the first time ever and gave Lancaster’s men the unwanted tag of being the first home nation not to qualify for the knockout stages.
The past seven days have been full of recrimination and finger-pointing as England’s long-suffering fans have tried to come to terms with another abject failure after four years of flawed planning and millions of pounds of investment.
This was always going to feel like the flattest of flat parties. The prematch ‘entertainment’ involved a man with a microphone running around encouraging the fans — some of whom had waited for more than an hour to get in following a ticketing problem — to sing
Wonderwall. Some of them bought into it, most didn’t. It was cringeworthy.
Almost 60,000 turned up to watch England’s final contribution to the tournament. It could also be Lancaster’s last time in charge of England and Robshaw’s last appearance as captain.
But this was not the party it was meant to be. Down the road the big- gest sporting event of the day in Manchester was taking place at Old Trafford, where Leeds beat Wigan in the Super League Grand Final.
To rub salt into their wounds, Wales’ defeat by Australia at Twickenham two hours earlier meant that if England had drawn against Warren Gatland’s men a fortnight ago, by kicking the points at the death, they would have qualified with this win.
Should have. Could have. Would have.
Last Saturday night Lancaster was booed during his post-match interview when his face flashed up on the big screen. He rang the changes for this match with George Ford returning at fly-half and Owen Farrell switching to inside centre alongside Slade, ludicrously overlooked until England’s tournament was over.
With Jack Nowell on the left wing, the back line at least had a freshness about it with playmakers and organisers across it. Brad Barritt was dropped following a miserable tournament while Sam Burgess was also ditched and the coaching staff, whose contribution will be assessed in a ‘360 degree review’ led by RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie, sat nervously in the stands.
The criticism has been intense and the scrutiny suffocating. Top-level sport is a brutal existence when things are not going well.
In fairness, the crowd made a terrific noise at kick-off, desperate to enjoy themselves.
It wasn’t quite echoes of San Marino scoring first at Wembley in 1993 but Uruguay fly-half Felipe Berchesi kicked a penalty two minutes in to the game to put the unfancied minnows 3-0 ahead.
Watson, one of the few England players to finish the tournament in substantial credit, settled nerves when he outstripped the Uruguay defence to dot down Nowell’s kick
ahead. England No 8 Easter, playing in place of the patently unfit Ben Morgan, bundled over for his first try after 17 minutes before tracking a sharp Danny Care snipe to score his second.
Farrell kicked all three conversions but the dreaded Mexican wave arrived after half an hour, giving a fair indication of the crowd’s interest levels.
Soon, they’d worked out the George Cross flags by their seats could be folded into paper planes and ‘flown’ onto the pitch.
Watson scored again after the break along with Easter, Slade and Nowell, who also scored a hat-trick, all crossed in the second-half and a penalty try at the end finished it off. Ten tries in total. But it mattered not a jot.
England’s fans kept cheering. They have stuck loyally by their team through thick and mainly thin. England’s party is over.