Once again I'm Proud to be English!!!!

By Luke Wilkins on Feb 16, 09 07:25 PM

Yes that's right, after saying how last week I wish I had been Welsh (which I believe my family still consider as heresy), this week the English rugby team went a hell of a long way to restoring some of that battered pride and once again every member of that team can be proud of wearing the English Rose.

I said England would lose by 20, and after the first minute when the Welsh poured through our defences like it was one of my old rugby socks (full of holes) I really though it might have been worse, but the way the players responded was amazing. It harked back to 2007 World Cup when we were beating teams much better than us by passion and aggression alone. You see rugby is a great game, as if you don't have the skill of say Shane Williams, you can make up for by being a human battering ram like Joe Worsley. Hell I was never that good but managed to play a pretty decent standard just 'cos I'm a bit crazy, and I remember winning games with my school team, where we were completely outclassed by other sides, but we simply beat the living be-Jesus out of them and they didn't want to know!
Delon Armitage scores Englands second try!

And that's what England did on Saturday, talks of a revival might be a bit premature, as we were still beaten and at times were playing headless chicken rugby, but do you know what, I don't care! Just to see an England side play like that was immense, and yes, the Welsh were just too good for us, yes we are still lacking truly world class players, but I can tell you now, every team around the world would have watched that game and thought......ohhhhhh their a bit tasty, don't fancy playing them! I know everyone is mentioning the indiscipline, but the problem was that at the heart of our success was our frantic disrupting of Wales' possession, and simply by doing that you are going to give away a lot of penalties, but hopefully this is something we can cut down on without losing any of that ferocity.
You can tell him I said he was playing out of position.jpg
Joe Worsley tackled like a train on Sat afternoon, and it was a brilliant tactic having Andy Goode pack down at flanker on defensive scrums so Joe could mash up the Welsh midfield, and what a job he did even after I questioned his selection, but you can bet he is the first name on the team sheet now. Also Toby Flood looked pretty good when he came on, but with Cipriani firing again for Wasps, and Andy Goode setting up our both our tries, I reckon he might have a bit of competition for the next match!

So all in all, yes we lost, but wow if we play like that every week I simply don't care about the result, we were Norse warriors, we took no quarter, and we battered the hell out of the Welsh which is always good!

I thought Scotland showed some promising signs against the French, who didn't seem to click and play at their best, almost feeling the pressure being in front of their passionate home support, and Ireland were never quite in control against an aggressive Italian side, but still managed a comfortable win, and they will be looking ahead to their next real big test against England.
Cahil slots past a despairing Friedel
As for the FA Cup, well there weren't many Cupsets on the cards, but the only result I didn't predict over the weekend was Villa's loss to Everton, and although Martin O'Neil was furious, I don't see it as a bad thing as now they can focus on finishing as high as possible in the league, and if not challenging for the title they can at least ensure a Champions League spot.

One more quick mention for Andy Murray who once again triumphed against Rafael Nadal to win a tournament, albeit if Nadal was injured, but even before he hurt his ankle, Murray was well on top. We actually have a World class tennis player that comes from these shores now, and it is a weir but great feeling to actually watch a British player and know he can actually beat the best the world has to offer!
Andy Murray Wins Again
I am on Emma's Scott's show all week from 11am-3pm, as well as my normal 3-5am new music show all on the mighty Kerrang, and I will be looking to try out some tricks this week when I go boarding tomorrow night, which I will tell you all about on Wednesday......if I'm still alive, until then amigos!