England’s World Cup hopes could hardly feel more washed up after the Fiji defeat with fresh direction and leadership essential to their recovery mission
the weekend Twickenham tsunami has swept away the last few planks of dignity to which the English game was clinging. Fiji has fewer than a million inhabitants spread across more than 300 islands and, despite crucial extra funding from World Rugby, their financial resources remain minuscule compared with those of their more pampered European cousins.
Which is where England now find themselves, on and off the field. There are still those in denial, insisting everything is broadly OK and that, courtesy of a favourable draw so soft and cushy it might have been lined with the finest duck down, Steve Borthwick’s team will still fetch up in the World Cup semi‑finals if they emerge from their slumbers even momentarily. Or as Ellis Genge pithily wrote on social media: “Write us off now, all the best.
The blame, though, does not sit entirely with a relatively new coaching panel, even if Simon Raiwalui has boosted Fiji’s fortunes since taking charge in February. As with– or ash dieback as it is more commonly known – the Twickenham rot set in a while earlier.
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