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North-South Relations
Can English rugby prevail?
. . . by Colin Rennert-May

Two weeks ago in Dublin, millions of pints of Guinness flowed freely, when the English Lions—the national Rugby Union team—arrived in town to play Ireland in the final game of the Six Nations Tournament. What had been hyped for weeks as a possibly brilliant end to the tournament—two previously undefeated teams vying for the tournament title—quickly turned into a one-sided match. By the end of the game the Irish were drinking consolation rounds. Not even beer goggles could alter the fact that England’s final tally of 40 massively outclassed Ireland’s 6.

National struggles
The Six Nations tourney is Europe’s premier Rugby Union championship. Although it began as a series of matches played between the national teams of England, Scotland, and Wales, by 1910, Ireland and France had joined as well—bringing the tally to five. It was known as the Five Nations Tournament until Italy was invited to join three years ago. Wales dominated the tournament during the ’70s and Scotland flowered briefly in the early ’90s; however, in recent years, the tournament has become a duel between England and France. Last year, France won a close match with England to claim the title. But this year, they hardly bothered to show up, leaving Ireland to face the challenge. Undefeated until their match against England, there was some hope that they might profit from their home-field advantage and carry the tournament, but to no avail.

England’s victory was unusually sweet. Not only did they win the tournament, but they won with a “Grand Slam”—defeating every other team. Indeed, the English side secured their grand slam victory in an away game, something no other team in the tournament’s history had done. Throughout the tournament, few of England’s games were even close. They defeated Italy, 40-5, and Scotland, 40-9. The matches against France and Wales were closer, but even then, England dominated. In the five rounds of the tournament, England managed to rack up an incredible point differential of 127.

That a team from England won for a change: this fact alone would be enough to spark a flurry of sports-media hype in Britain. But can they do it again? Can they do it when it counts? And, most importantly, can they beat the Australians? For a country that sees itself as the birthplace of several of the world’s most important sports—soccer, cricket, and rugby—England’s fans have been subjected to uncountable disappointments since…well, since other countries started playing those sports.

When the English rugby team manages to win Europe’s premier rugby tournament, it’s a big deal. And when not only do they win, but they also crush every other team…well, judging from the reports one reads in the newspapers, the messiah and apocalypse must be nigh. But the significance of the annual Six Nations tourney pales in comparison with the World Cup. And to win the World Cup, England will have to prove itself against three of the best teams in the world.

Wanna-be Wallabies?
The World Cup, begun in 1987, has confirmed the dominance of a triad of powerhouses from the Southern Hemisphere—Australia (won in ’99, ’91), New Zealand (’87), and South Africa (’95). No team from the Northern Hemisphere has ever won rugby’s World Cup. And, with the Would Cup being played Down Under this year, the Wallabies—the Australian team—would seem like obvious favorites.

But October could bring an upset of this southern hegemony. Australia’s tour of Britain went very badly early this year, with surprising losses going to a particularly weak Welsh side and to a mediocre Scotland. South Africa, despite intentionally injuring England’s captain, was positively molested by England in one match, and the feared New Zealand All-Blacks have also departed somewhat from the peak form they exhibited in the ’90s, leaving the tournament open for an English victory.

In a normal year, England would probably win a few more games over the summer and then collapse due to the injuries and super-star hissy-fits that seem to plague English sports. But this time, they tell us, things will be different. With the International Rugby Board (IRB) World Cup heading to Australia in October, maybe England will manage to hold its team together for another few months.

Will England win in October? Will the Southern dominance of 15 years be reversed? Probably not. England’s team is stellar, indeed; one BBC reporter called this year’s Six Nations Champions “the most creative, powerful, and balanced team ever to represent England.” But who can really imagine an English team able to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? Every factor may seem to be in England’s favor, save luck, but in sports, this is often the most important element of all.

Colin Rennert-May B’03 has written several sports articles on sports no one cares about.

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