The England Rugby Squad left on Monday for the Rugby World Cup that is about to take place in France. The squad took the 75-minute flight to think about all the hopes on being the first team in 20 years to retain the title.
England has had a chain of humiliating losses since beating Australia in the 2003 final and has sunk to seventh in the world rankings. Even with 13 players in its squad who were at the last tournament, the team is rated as low as a 33-1 shot to win the title.
“The French games proved the level we are at is not good enough,” captain Phil Vickery said at Heathrow airport. “But we are not far away. We will go to France and give a good account of ourselves.”
The team has been trying to adapt to the faster dynamic game played by the title contender New Zealand, while the team is not as good as it was four years ago or group rival against South Africa this time.
Coach Brian Ashton has some good backs at his disposal, such as centers Mathew Tait and Dan Hipkiss, but his squad selection is not that good on the cautious side.
England opens against the United States on Saturday before facing South Africa, Samoa and Tonga. A quarterfinal, most likely against Australia, could be as far as England gets.
“We must have no regrets,” Vickery said. “I hope no one in the squad looks back on the tournament with ‘if onlys’ or ‘could haves,’ because it is too late then. We must give everything we have got and hopefully we can spring a few surprises.” - rugby league merchandise
