Was he not stood on the wing for England today disguised as a Mexican

I don't buy it. We shouldn't be as far behind as we obviously are

I was hoping to see a fresh looking England team for this World Cup. Alas........Tony Smith has picked the same mis-matched team foundation as Nobby had. OK......These lads seem to prove their worth in superleague playing with their respective clubs.......But each and every one of them would've got "Does not mix well with others" on their reference after this competition.
The alarm bells were ringing three weeks ago with the PNG scare. The winning mentality and body language just wasn't there.

Come on Kiwi's (well......gotta support someone in the final eh?)

1. Australia - 160
2. New Zealand - 130
3. Fiji - 106
4. Samoa - 99
5. Tonga - 96
6. England - 94
7. PNG - 89
8. Ireland - 86
9. Scotland - 82
10. France - 78
11. Wales - 62
12. Lebanon - 53
world rankings

Quote: DABHAND "Was not referring to quality imports. When 30odd per cent of super league players are imports there is no wonder we are in trouble.If the top Aussie coach can see it then why can't we.'" Might be the same article from the telegraph you posted earlier.......although it has absolutely nob all to do with him, he is totally right!! news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_l ... 731918.stm

Quote: DABHAND "Was not referring to quality imports. When 30odd per cent of super league players are imports there is no wonder we are in trouble.If the top Aussie coach can see it then why can't we.'" Might be the same article from the telegraph you posted earlier.......although it has absolutely nob all to do with him, he is totally right!! news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_l ... 731918.stm

When the players care,i will care.

Have been to test matches all over the country,World cup finals twice,wembley for tests when we had a better team...used to love going to the test matches but not now....the team is picked on who you play for and who you are.

The team needs a total overhaul and maybe a new coach as it looks as though Smith hasnt got a sodding clue.

Put it this way...if someone said to me,what would you sooner have..A England world cup win or C/cup or G/Final win for Hull FC........FC win for me everytime.

Same here mate. I'dve loved an England World Cup win but it would barely hit the radar in the national sporting conscience anyway. The RFL must shoulder the blame for years of failure when we have SL teams with upto 11 imports.

I was over the semi defeat yesterday by mid afternoon whereas a defeat for Hull has me down for the week.

what an awesome try by inglis

what about the passion from fiji

If we did play in the summer alot of the players support either Rovers or Hull and would most probably leave. I dont think its a problem playing in the winter.

In the grass roots a scholarship system takes place at 12. Then regional and national camps at 13s onwards.

The main difference is rugby is the no1 sport over there whereas here its football. Theres a player i want to sign for the team i coach whos brilliant and would go along way in the game but he loves football. Thats the main difference between England and Australia.

Tony Smith picked more or less the best set of players he had available to him,
the problems lie a lot deeper than his team selection,
Most of the chosen players are in the comfort zone because a lot of them know that there is not enough emerging players coming through to challenge them,
An example is Ben Westwood,
i'm not picking on him as there is a lot more like him.
hes a decent enough player but not England world cup standard
Theres non or very few potential new Scullys, Farrells or Edwards on the horizon.
The game needs promoting a lot more at youth levels with more teams being formed and young kids given the incentives to play the game,
Look at how many teams were around in the 80s in Hull compared to now,
i reckon 90% have disappeared and the few clubs that are left often have trouble with getting a full squad and even being able to put 13 kids out on a Sunday.

Could'nt agree more