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The Rugby: England-USA
Sep. 9th, 2007 09:36 amA win, but as Ashton put it himself "a less than satisfactory performance".
With the notable exception of Olly Barkley England looked complacent. They were going through the motions without any real commitment against a US team who started determined not to be humiliated and finished looking for the bonus point for a close loss. Compared with the way New Zealand and Australia accelerated away from weaker opposition, it was dire. NZ in particular are looking good - Italy are no near as weak as they were and several notches ahead of Japan.
I reckon substitute England for France in the opener and the Pumas would still have won it. Several extra gears need to be found, or South Africa will rip them apart.
With the notable exception of Olly Barkley England looked complacent. They were going through the motions without any real commitment against a US team who started determined not to be humiliated and finished looking for the bonus point for a close loss. Compared with the way New Zealand and Australia accelerated away from weaker opposition, it was dire. NZ in particular are looking good - Italy are no near as weak as they were and several notches ahead of Japan.
I reckon substitute England for France in the opener and the Pumas would still have won it. Several extra gears need to be found, or South Africa will rip them apart.
