Chris Hewett: Reputation precedes England team

COMMENT

This will not make much sense to the nation that gave Sir Edmund Hillary to the world, but some people suffer from vertigo.

Traditionally, British sportsmen have been among them, which may explain why Sir John Hunt stayed at Everest base camp in 1953.

Now that the England rugby team are working their way towards the Himalayan heights after decades of messing around in the Pennines, it will be fascinating to see just how they deal with the altitude.

Without doubt, this is the best England team of the post-war era.

They have the strongest pack in world rugby, no question. They have the best goalkicker, too. They are supremely fit, brilliantly prepared, outstandingly disciplined - give or take the occasional transgression from a Johnson or a Grewcock, who like to make life interesting - and, for the first time in living memory, comfortable with themselves.

Clive Woodward has achieved many things since the last World Cup, not least in persuading the notorious tight-wads at the Rugby Football Union to spend a few bob. And by making his players suspect they might be as good as everyone says they are, he has changed the mindset of a generation.

Yet the transformation is not quite complete, for England have yet to dominate a World Cup tournament and bring home the silverware.

They were a poor side in 1987 - no team with half a brain would have lost to Wales at the quarter-final stage - and although they reached the final four years later, they were almost apologetic in their progress and turned in only one performance worthy of celebration, against the French in Paris.

In 1995, they were out of synch and out of date - the new-age All Blacks really gave them what for - and in 1999, they failed to find a way out of third gear.

The fact they are joint favourites for this tournament marks a fundamental change in the way English rugby is perceived, not least by the English.

For 18 months, virtually everything has gone to plan.

They beat the Argentinians in Buenos Aires with only three first-choice players on board, put 50 past the Springboks, wrapped up a long-awaited Grand Slam by walloping the Irish in Dublin, beat the All Blacks in Wellington and rammed it up the Wallabies in Melbourne.

They then took a shadow side to Marseille and lost by a single point before rattling up 40 with the first team a week later.

That is a decent run in anybody's language - far better than Martin Johnson or Neil Back could have imagined after they found themselves on the wrong end of Jannie de Beer's right boot last time.

Johnson is the most intimidating lock around, a hugely effective captain of the "follow me, boys" variety and, extraordinarily, he is playing the best rugby of his career at 33.

Back is less reliable these days, but his contribution as defensive organiser is critical to the way England operate.

Of the other forwards, Richard Hill remains all things to all men, Lawrence Dallaglio is beefier and more direct after adapting his game to the new realities of life after knee surgery, Phil Vickery and Trevor Woodman are more mobile than most human tanks.

And then there is Steve Thompson, the hooker. If Sean Fitzpatrick reinvented the role, Thompson is re-reinventing it. A one-time flanker with the body shape of a small hillside, he has the world at his feet and is perfectly prepared to stamp all over it.

They have weaknesses, most obviously with their wide defence. Ben Cohen, dangerous with ball in hand, goes walkabout now and again; Jason Robinson has been known to miss the odd tackle; Josh Lewsey can lose his positional bearings; Iain Balshaw is not the strongest of men in contact.

There is a slight question mark over the midfield, too, for Will Greenwood is the only truly creative inside back available to Woodward.

But all things considered, they are in there with a big shout. Provided they can handle the pressure of expectation they have the quality to make the final.

* Chris Hewett is rugby writer for the INDEPENDENT

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