Southgate boys have our spirit from 2011

I’VE WATCHED with interest England’s campaign in the World Cup in Russia. For me it’s eerily similar to when I was part of the Wales side which reached the semi-finals in New Zealand in 2011.

For that tournament we had quite a few younger players who went into the tournament with not much experience and soon began to impress on the big stage.

While Gareth Southgate has Harry Kane, Dele Alli and Harry Maguire at his disposal now, Warren Gatland could boast the likes of Sam Warburton, Taulupe Faletau and Jonathan Davies.

It seems England are playing with confidence, loving each other’s company away from the field and generally soaking up the whole experience.

That’s exactly what happened to us. Halfway through that World Cup we really believed we could win it and perhaps should have done. That always eats away at me.

Of course Sam’s red card played a big part in us losing to France in the semis, but I think it will be interesting to see what happens with England’s rugby team next.

There is no doubt that they will be under even more pressure after the success of the football World Cup. It happened to Wales when the football team reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016.

Of course, Eddie Jones hasn’t had good results anyway and I’m sure he’ll know he’s got to deliver when the new season gets going.

Once a nation gets a taste of success in any sport, they only want more!