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Le Touquet postcard: England settle into most British French resort
This time next week we will have a far better sense of the direction of travel for England at Rugby World Cup 2023 as by then the dust will be settling on the outcome of their opening Pool D match versus Argentina in Marseille.
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Win and they will be in the fast lane to the semi-finals on the weaker side of the draw. Lose and their very survival in the tournament will already be in jeopardy facing a game two meeting with Japan in Nice.
It’s a highwire balancing act on the sweltering and sticky French Riviera a million miles away from their current location in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, the most British of French resorts.
For those who aren’t French history buffs, it was English businessman John Whitley whose enthusiasm led to the creation of ‘Touquet Syndicate Limited’ and from 1894 to 1913, the beachside town located halfway between Paris and London became quite the playground for sports, leisure and enjoyment.
One hundred and 10 years later, the destination is now playing host to the England rugby team. It will either be the richest inheritance from the old Eddie Jones era or the hospital pass from hell, depending on the pool stage results on their travels to Marseille, Nice and Lille (twice).
It was Jones who last year decided that the town by Le Baie de Canche was the ideal place for England to base themselves for five weeks of training and R’n’R away from the weekend pressures of winning must-win matches.
Jones was since pushed aside – ironically he can now be found on the opposite side of France, hanging out with the Wallabies at their Saint-Etienne base in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.
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That is a very different location compared to what Borthwick and co have encountered since their arrival on Thursday at the recently renamed Elizabeth II International Airport of Le Touquet Paris-Plage.
They landed across the Channel in the Hauts-de-France region following the worst preparation ever by an England team for a World Cup, with suspensions, injuries and dispiriting losses stalking them every step of the way, but you wouldn’t detect that judging by the current public demeanour of the players.
They were all high jinks and banter before suspended skipper Owen Farrell, with a cajoling “Let’s go, lads. Let’s go, let’s go” led them onto the pitch for Friday afternoon’s open training session in front of 500 local school children at the Stade d’Athletisme Ferdi Petit.
This excitement was again evident at Saturday afternoon’s Rugby World Cup capping ceremony at the nearby Place de l’Hermitage facility where another very French welcome was to be had.
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“It feels like it’s a long time coming. We are absolutely delighted to be here. It seems like we have a brilliant training base. Yeah, we’re delighted,” enthused assistant Richard Wigglesworth after the caps had been fitted and the participation medals pocketed.
Everything is local, by the way, in this leafy, salt-air resort. England’s hotel is a blink-and-you-miss-it bus ride to their training ground while the busy long strand beach is a short walk via the warren of small but bustling streets (well, they were teeming on Saturday morning with the market open).
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT 🤞
– Steve Borthwick was busy working on the England maul at Friday's open training session in Touquet. It was their first time on the pitch after arrival in France on Thursday for Rugby World Cup 2023. #RWC2023 #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/vMKWiepgII
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 1, 2023
As secluded as the resort town is compared to some other tier one nations’ base camps, Borthwick won’t enjoy coming under an even more intense spotlight having arrived at the finals with England losing five of their last six matches and six of their nine in total under the rookie Test-level head coach since he succeeded Jones last December.
You could sense that on Friday when he strangely walked out to training on his own in advance of his squad and staff, immediately asking for changes to the flexible barrier belt stanchion set-up separating the media from the players.
He’s that sort of a guy, a stickler for unnecessary detail who demands getting his way. It doesn’t make him popular. Negative comments, for instance, dominated the reaction to the maul training footage that RugbyPass later posted on Facebook and X.
However, the only thing that will ultimately matter about his management style is England winning or losing matches, starting next weekend. After a seven-night stay in Le Touquet, they fly south to Marseille next Thursday ahead of their September 9 World Cup opener against Argentina.
That is the moment of truth for Borthwick’s England. Not the past month and the underwhelming Summer Nations Series. Allez les Blancs.
WATCH: The fright one England player had when the fireworks started in Le Touquet Paris-Plage on Saturday… #EnglandRugby #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/ZcBTlSik4U
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 2, 2023
Comments on RugbyPass
Yes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to comments