Dallaglio: How England players responded at final whistle a 'good sign'
Lawrence Dallaglio has predicted a special future for England’s World Cup-chasing team ahead of their bid for global glory.
England will complete a clean sweep of victories over southern-hemisphere heavyweights Australia, New Zealand and South Africa on successive weekends if they beat the Springboks in Saturday’s final.
And 2003 England World Cup winner Dallaglio is enthused by what could lie ahead for Eddie Jones’ squad.
“This is a team that is still very much discovering how good they can potentially be,” said Dallaglio, speaking on behalf of Land Rover, Official Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2019.
“The exciting thing is there is a lot more to come from this England side.
“They have now set that benchmark with that performance (victory over New Zealand in the semi-final) right up there, and it’s going to be something quite special, I think.
“To win a World Cup, two of your games normally tend to be against southern-hemisphere teams, but were they to beat all three back to back… I am not sure I can recall that.
“It’s pretty impressive, but they have got one more to go, and that’s the key.”
Reflecting on England’s stunning victory over the All Blacks, Dallaglio added: “It’s one of the all-time great Rugby World Cup performances, full stop.
“I would almost go as far to say it was the most complete England performance we’ve seen for quite some time, if indeed ever – and I say that with a huge amount of pride.
Twelve years on from the 2007 final in Paris that England lost to South Africa, winger Mark Cueto still insists his disallowed try was a legitimate scorehttps://t.co/DTBv2NpgGl
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 29, 2019
“I think what was even more impressive is that normally when you see a team beat the All Blacks there tends to be a lot of hysteria on the final whistle because it’s a major achievement.
“But I think with this side what was really impressive is that at the final whistle, yes of course they were pleased – there were big smiles, big hugs and everything – but they seemed to be fairly grounded and under control and recognised that it was a semi-final and not a final.
“That is a good sign for this England team.
“If they go on and win it – and it’s going to be a very tough game – to have played the three southern-hemisphere teams on consecutive weekends, I don’t think anyone could deny that they would deserve to win the World Cup.”
Departing Wales boss Warren Gatland has cleared up what he meant when he spoke about England last Sunday https://t.co/PASD6D3Ep8
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 30, 2019
Dallaglio is wary of South Africa’s threat on Saturday as they bid for a third world crown following successes in 1995 and 2007.
“We can’t expect that they (England) are just going to go out there and do necessarily what they did to New Zealand,” he said.
“South Africa have proved they are a very difficult side to beat. They have only conceded four tries in the whole tournament, with two of them being against the All Blacks in their first game.
“They are a tough nut to crack, and they are pretty determined as well. Given what England did to New Zealand, they will be favourites in terms of the way they played, but it is going to be difficult.”
If England conquer the rugby world this weekend, similar scenes to 2003 can be expected such as a London victory parade and Downing Street reception.
“They will have achieved something very, very special that is very hard to do,” Dallaglio added.
“I remember from my own experiences, you celebrate it with the country – it’s an amazing achievement and everyone feels very proud.
“If you can start your season by winning the World Cup, then the possibilities are endless after that.”
– Land Rover is Official Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2019. With over 20 years of heritage supporting rugby at all levels, Land Rover is celebrating what makes rugby, rugby. #LandRoverRugby
Comments on RugbyPass
Ben Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
86 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
19 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to comments