Haskell quotes Will Ferrell movie as he assesses England's Six Nations
James Haskell conceded England had not been good enough during the Six Nations after a 24-15 defeat to Ireland at Twickenham saw them finish fifth.
Joe Schmidt’s men had already wrapped up the title after England were beaten in both Scotland and France, and Saturday’s loss put Eddie Jones’ side on their worst run of results in the competition since 2006.
England had been pre-tournament favourites after Jones transformed a side who were humiliated on home soil at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, losing only one Test under the Australian prior to their recent slump – a run that included two Six Nations triumphs.
Haskell said the margins between success and failure in rugby can be minimal, but admitted England have not produced the performances to put themselves on the right side of that line of late.
“It happens in professional sport. The margins are very small. I’m not making excuses, but it is,” he said.
“The difference between getting a result where everyone’s blowing smoke up your bum versus disappointment.
“Today we were off. We were off last week and we’re just not good enough at the moment. That’s the difference. We’ve got to go away and work very hard.
#ENGvIRE | James Haskell on how England can turn around a disappointing run of form: https://t.co/2yduF1JGGb pic.twitter.com/sJ4d5NiYm4
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 17, 2018
“What people would have guessed [would happen], that’s not reality. That’s sport for you. That’s what happens and you’ve just got to get on with it.
“We’ll take our medicine. It’s a massive learning curve. It’s a massive character assessment.
“We’ve all been there. In 2015 you [the media] were ready to burn us alive and that was it. Six months later we’d turned it around.
“Rugby and professional sport, it’s the flip of a coin.”
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1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
3 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to commentsOne tough SOB!
16 Go to commentsI’ve put on 4/5 kilos since the beginning of the season too. Not good kilos. Bad kilos.
3 Go to commentsSurely there’s a ‘no knobheads’ policy ?
2 Go to commentsWallaroos have no chance of beating the Black Ferns unless Canada upsets them in Christchurch tomorrow but I doubt that as well!
1 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Could the victim do a course to reverse the long term CTE damage from the cheapshot?
2 Go to commentsTruely great player. In social media and opinion pieces he was held up and flogged for the results. People wanted someone to crucify, and he was the captain. He was still an immense presence respected by his peers. His battles with Siya Kolisi belong up with with Collins vs Burger in my opinion. Unlucky to be carded in the final, but I don’t agree that his red card was the defining moment. Not when you look at the dominant performances of the Springboks (PSDT in particular.) I think Cane should be remembered for the spirit and physicality that is special to test rugby.
16 Go to commentsSam was the man until he got injured .
16 Go to comments_Crusaders versus Leinster _at the moment might be a rout! But I would like to see the Blues play Toulouse, the Hurricanes front up against Stade Francais, and the Chiefs go against Toulon.
157 Go to commentsLove it when we overlap! Promise it was not forethought.
19 Go to commentsjfc can this guy plz stay out of the news for one week
2 Go to commentsIf stormers aren’t available. Based on form and likely availability at the time of the wales Test, you’d think Masuku would be a no-brainer to start. But starting Jordan also makes sense having Masuku come off the bench to close out the game.
2 Go to commentsGlad Tom Curry not playing needs time to recover such a great player also his brother Ben how well is he playing now .
1 Go to commentsLet’s examine what might be irking the brainless E: Up until 20 years before this coming Julys tests: 16 games: 14 wins for SA; 1 win for Ire; 1 draw From 20 years until July’ tests Ireland V SA: 13 matches Ireland won 8; SA won 4; 1 draw Points scored Ireland 261; SA 189 Ave Winning Margin: Ireland 11 points; SA 4 points (away 3, home 6) Away win record: Ireland 33.33%; SA 25% Neutral matches 1: Ireland win RWC France 2023. Last SA win June 2016 (8 years ago) They boast 3 World cups in that period (they do boast). The above record is not good, probably not much better than theirs against NZ for same period. That’s why the dopey E is starting fights in his head. He will probably ship a yellow when things don’t go their way in the first test.
127 Go to commentsGoode is like a wet fart on The Rugby Pod and should be shoved aside. Jim knows what he is on about and can get on better without Goode’s nasty little cheap shots.
127 Go to commentsBrumbies will win, crusaders are pretty awful this year
1 Go to commentsThis has the makings of a good match. That’s Leinster’s second team but its a good one (stronger than the teams in SA recently). Ulster are really turning a page. Ryan back is huge, and Keenan too. This could be a cracker.
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