England fans 'have a mistaken belief'

Monday 8 March 2010
Published By: David Rawlings
Six Nations > England

Many England fans retain the mistaken belief that the national team is far superior to the majority of nations it comes up against, it has been claimed.

Brian Moore, writing for the Daily Telegraph, said that it was certainly true in 2003 when England were by far the best team on the planet, but the squad has deteriorated since then and he pointed out that England fans can no longer claim that they and France are the sole members of the Six Nations elite.

According to Moore, the assumption is still that England "have a good chance" of winning any given Six Nations game, a belief which has remained for over 25 years.

"At one time this was justified, but if this notion is still entertained by England supporters they are a dwindling set that is badly out of kilter with the view from other countries," he explained.

Moore added that another misconception lies in the view that the Guinness Premiership is superior to the Magners League.

Where as he accepts that the English competition is still more "attritional" than its Celtic counterpart, Moore points to results and representation in the Heineken Cup as a sign that the Welsh and Irish clubs have the edge.

"The better yardstick is the Heineken Cup for which the Celtic teams now prepare as a priority. In this tournament, an English club has won it only once in the past five seasons," he pointed out.

As well as the Six Nations records between the sides, with six wins out of the last seven for Ireland and four out of seven for Wales, the minor part played by England players in the last Lions tour is another indication that there is a long way to go before the team can be considered bona fide world beaters again, Moore concluded.

One indication of where England stand on the world stage will be this weekend's performance against Scotland at Murrayfield, as the last two confrontations north of the border have resulted in a home win.

Posted by David Rawlings