Rugby World Cups - 2003 and 2015: What´s happened in between and can England repeat the success?

Title Page

Rugby World Cups - 2003 And 2015

By

Paul Tait

Publisher Information

Published in 2013 by

Andrews UK Limited

www.andrewsuk.com

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Copyright © Paul Tait 2013

The right of Paul Tait to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Dedication

For Caetano and Olívia

Prologue

This book is the result of different unrelated conversations that I had with several individuals. After writing my first book a good friend asked me if I was going to write another and it got me thinking. Over the following few months I had two people comment on an article I had written[1] in April 2012 for Rugby Mania. The article was about English rugby in general since Martin Johnson lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy in Sydney in 2003. At the time of winning the Rugby World Cup there was plenty of reason to believe that England would truly kick-on through sustained development to see the sport reach previously unheard of heights in the nation of its birth. Two Rugby World Cups on a question needed to be addressed - has English rugby achieved what it should have since the national team achieved World Cup glory?

As I prepared to write the article for Rugby Mania my conclusion was a firm no and with the benefit of hindsight my position is unchanged. I saw flaws that were seemingly taken for granted and not addressed in the British press. It was of grave concern due to Rugby World Cup 2015 being England’s Rugby World Cup. France had delivered a very good tournament in 2007 but not a perfect one. What it had and had not done well offered organizers of the 2015 event plenty of guidance. Unfortunately, three years before the event too much appeared to not have been acknowledged and England 2015 looks like not reaching the heights that it should have. Upon greater reflection and conversations with a number of rugby followers I am fortunate to either be friends with or to have met on social media I decided to go ahead, dig deeper and write a second book.

1 The article was titled Grandes Mudanças precisam ser realizadas na Inglaterra (Big Changes need to take place in England) and can be seen here http://bit.ly/KnL5oL

Introduction

History was made on November 22 2003 - England was crowned the World Champion, a title that would be held for four years. England won after defeating Australia, the 1999 World Champions in front of a record Rugby World Cup crowd of 82,957 in Sydney. The 20-17 extra time victory opened doors for English rugby to revolutionize and become something much bigger than it was. Everything was ready for rugby to explode in England, for the national team to kick-on, for the level of the domestic game to continue growing and for the sport to genuinely become prominent nationwide. But in 2013 the reality is that English rugby has missed this opportunity. England has lost many matches that go beyond justification and the Aviva Premiership has not reached the level of popularity that it ought to have. While the quality of rugby in the Aviva Premiership is high, and is of an adequate level, it is far from being what should be acceptable considering that England won the World Cup in 2003 and was second four years later.

The gold mine that presented itself was not acted upon. Instead a conservative agenda saw the focus of the national men’s team remain at the Rugby Football Union (RFU) headquarters as Twickenham continued to play host to all of England’s home matches unchecked. As will be argued in part one of the book the RFU’s off field policies of maximizing revenue combined with on the field failures to deliver adequate results held back the development of rugby in England and it has had lasting impacts that have seen the match schedule for Rugby World Cup 2015 lack the same geographical spread of previous tournaments. France’s model of having venues host three or four pool matches has not been replicated. To the contrary England 2015 is to feature more matches outside of England than it is in the three most northern cities involved in hosting games. Combined the cities of Leeds, Manchester and Newcastle have been allocated six matches with none of whom being allocated a Quarter Final. Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium will, instead, host the two Quarter Finals not being played at Twickenham while it will also host six pool matches.

Such a match schedule brings into question exactly what the governing body of English rugby has been doing to promote the sport since 2003. The root of this problem is a theme of the book and it is to be investigated in the second half of the first section. The combination of long standing unchanged RFU policies with the domestic game not having developed to an extent compatible with winning the Rugby World Cup mean that the situation facing England a decade after being crowned Rugby World Cup champions can be brought into question. Other factors such as the use of players born and raised abroad have seen nationalized players overtake locally produced players for the purposes of international duty. Although it is common in international rugby and in sport generally, England’s increased use of foreign players has come not before but after the winning of the World Cup. With a variety of factors at play the issue is one of global importance and one that is here to stay. It is, nonetheless, at odds with the winning of the Rugby World Cup opening the door to expansion.

Domestic complications are not the extent of the issues facing rugby administrators in England. Rather it is global and affects every competing nation and all potential spectators both in terms of those attending the Rugby World Cup and those watching matches worldwide. The decision to allocate England with hosting rights came with the great responsibility of delivering a tournament as memorable as previous events and also one that is hugely successful in financial terms. In order to do so the organizers also need to have the tournament be as uniquely English as possible to ensure that it carries recognition on a global scale. The decision to have Wales sub-host matches brings with it complications but the intention presented in the bid was always for Wales to host matches. The final list of thirteen stadiums for the tournament does not, however, directly correspond to what the RFU had presented to the IRB in its bid. By looking at other sporting events hosted by England and the nation’s bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup it is possible to better understand the situation facing Rugby World Cup 2015 organizers and this is looked at in part two of the book.

The issue of England not hosting alone is certain to be amongst the hottest talking points of the tournament itself. While there are reasons why all matches will not be in England it was not a simple exercise of England not being able to host on its own. To the contrary England has more than enough facilities to host all of the forty-eight matches. This raises two separate issues for the future of the Rugby World Cup. Firstly the use of a sub-host nation when it is not absolutely essential and secondly the need to re-evaluate the bidding process and possibly make alterations so that tournament hosting rights are not allocated to multiple unions. The decision to have Wales as a junior partner means that the Welsh capital is to host Rugby World Cup matches for a fourth time. This is the case despite Wales lacking the means to host a Rugby World Cup on its own. Exactly how and why Wales came to be included in the bid and, ultimately, be allocated so many matches is an important part of the puzzle. It carries substantial implications for future Rugby World Cup host nations yet has been able to be accepted without being scrutinized to such a level that might be deemed appropriate.

The draw itself for the Rugby World Cup has suffered from the final selection of venues for the tournament and has also not allocated the friendliest of match schedules for a number of competing nations. Part three of the book will seek to offer a solution to the complicated process of creating a match schedule that is as fair as possible and is still able to secure strong economic productivity. There are a number of factors that need to be considered in order to compile a match schedule and previous Rugby World Cups provide comprehensive lessons of what is and what is not acceptable. While many of the boxes ticked were acceptable overall the manner in which Rugby World Cup 2015 was booked is far from ideal.

As rugby’s premier event not only in competitive or economic terms but also, crucially, in reputational terms it is mandatory that the match allocation process be completed in a way that will encourage and not discourage first time viewers from becoming regulars. The book takes this as its point of departure as it analyzes the presented problems and seeks to offer realistic and viable solutions. While England 2015 is sure to be a great occasion there is reason to believe it could be improved on. Had differing policies been implemented during the period since 2003 the status of the event throughout England could reach much higher proportions and be termed exceptional.

Part I

Opportunity Missed?

1: The Golden Era

When Martin Johnson lifted the Rugby World Cup he was not only a World Champion he was also the leader of the highest ranked team in the world. England had conquered the tournament and also the global order. England was the number one ranked team in the IRB World Rankings[2] with 93.99 points. It was a noticeably higher number of rating points than all other nations. New Zealand, despite being eliminated in the Semi Finals was ranked second but was still distanced by almost four rating points behind England.[3] It was not only a phenomenal margin but was a ranking that neither subsequent Rugby World Cup Champion would reach upon winning in 2007 and 2011.

South Africa won the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final after defeating England 15-6 in what was the second time the teams had faced each other in the tournament. England had recovered from a disastrous performance against South Africa in the second weekend of pool play. The loss of fly halves Jonny Wilkinson and Olly Barkley left the team with no specialist pivot and England’s depth was exposed. In general the English performance was poor with South Africa dominating overall with better running, passing, scrums, lineouts and tackling. The 36-0 win was notable as much for the margin as it was for what England offered in attack. The 2003 World Champions were so badly outplayed that the side would not have a single shot at goal in the match. England nonetheless recovered with Wilkinson returning to play a significant role in defeating both Samoa and Tonga to see England qualify for the Quarter Finals. England took on Australia in a rematch of the 2003 Final but entered very much as underdogs. So much so that during the week leading up to the match Australian Rugby Union (ARU) CEO John O’Neill had said that Australia could win by 30 points.[4]

England had simply fallen so far from the heights of November 2003 that IRB World Rankings were not required to analyze the level of the English team in 2007. England did get the win with Wilkinson again being crucial as he kicked his country into a Semi Final against France. The remarkable turn-around was complete as England won in Paris to book a rematch against South Africa at the same venue as its record Rugby World Cup loss earlier in the tournament. The comeback was described as one of the greatest of all time in any sport[5] and for good reason - it had been a comeback from the death. While England had recovered to get through its pool and then defeat Australia and France it had not been overly impressive. Its victories were often shaky with Tonga giving England a scare in scoring the game’s first try and competing well to be trailing 19-13 after 53 minutes.[6] England got the bonus point win just like it had managed against Samoa but it had been unable to do the same against the USA in its opening match of the tournament.

The turn-around still saw South Africa being heavy favorites and the Springboks indeed controlled the final. Although neither team scored a try the match was under control from a South African perspective virtually from start to finish. England looked to have scored a try but winger Mark Cueto was ruled to have had a foot in touch as he went over in the left corner. With or without the score South Africa would have won as the final score line saw the 2003 Champions defeated by nine points. It saw South Africa crowned deserved World Champions as it was the only team that had won all its matches in the competition. The players returned home with the Webb Ellis Trophy and with the top spot in the IRB World Rankings. Despite being eliminated by France in the Quarter Finals New Zealand had held on to its number one ranking until the final. South Africa’s ranking of 90.81 rating points[7] was noticeably higher than in 2003 when South Africa’s Quarter Final exit saw the team ranked fifth in the world with 81.23 ratings points.[8] The completion of Rugby World Cup 2007 saw South Africa followed by New Zealand in second place with 89.59 ratings points, Argentina in third with 87.42 ratings points and England in fourth with 85.55 ratings points.[9]

Following the completion of Rugby World Cup 2011 England was ranked one place lower with 81.58 ratings points. It had been eliminated at the Quarter Finals stage by France who had made a very impressive comeback of its own after being well defeated by New Zealand and losing to Tonga in one of the biggest upsets of all time. France, like England four years earlier had played poorly in its pool matches and had problems against both Canada and Japan before finishing strongly in defeating both countries and collecting bonus points. France eliminated England and Wales in the knock-out rounds en route to losing the final against New Zealand. It saw France finish the tournament ranked in third place in the IRB World Rankings with 84.70 ratings points. Australia was second with 87.42 points and New Zealand was in first place with 91.43.[10] While New Zealand was the leading force in 2011 it did not lift the Rugby World Cup with as many ratings points as England had in 2003.

The year 2012 saw New Zealand underline its status as the best team in the world as it played fourteen tests winning twelve, drawing one and losing one. The one loss was its final match of the year and it saw New Zealand fall significantly but maintain its number one ranking with 90.08 rating points. It saw New Zealand go into the draw for Rugby World Cup 2011 as the number one seed with Australia, South Africa and France joining the World Champions in the first Band. England was in fifth position with a ranking of 83.90 points.[11] England had finished the year in memorable fashion with a record breaking 38-21 victory over New Zealand. The win saw England receive plenty of praise with the Telegraph saying Stuart Lancaster’s men hit new heights with record win over the All Blacks.[12] The new heights were not achieved in the IRB World Rankings though as England was not able to break into the first band due to having lost 20-14 against Australia and 16-15 South Africa in earlier home matches in November.

New Zealand and Australia had played a pre-tour match in Brisbane. The match was forgettable with neither side scoring a try. It did however see New Zealand not win. The 18-18 all draw saw New Zealand lose ratings points for the first time in over a year. Before the match New Zealand had a dominant position in the IRB World Rankings with 93.35 ratings points. The extent of New Zealand’s performances could be seen with Australia’s ranking of 85.92 ratings points. The All Blacks had been performing so well for so long that the gap between itself as the top ranked nation and Australia as the second placed one was larger than that of Australia in second and Argentina in eighth.[13] New Zealand’s ranking was not, however, as high as that of England when it won the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

Since IRB World Rankings began on October 20 2003 New Zealand has been ranked number one on five occasions and its lowest ranking being third after its Semi Final loss against Australia in 2003.[14] The loss saw New Zealand fall from first spot with Australia moving from fourth to second and England moving to first after defeating France in the other Semi Final.[15] New Zealand finished the year in second thanks to Australia losing the World Cup Final and recovered first position in 2004, holding onto it until South Africa won the World Cup three years later. South Africa and New Zealand both held the lead at times in 2008 and 2009 before New Zealand’s current run as the number one ranked rugby nation began during the November 2009 tour of Europe. The 2012 end of year tour saw New Zealand complete three consecutive years as the top ranked nation.

Besides New Zealand and South Africa only England has been ranked number one. The real story however is about how England has never returned to be ranked number one since losing its spot in 2004. The two most consistent performers have been Australia and New Zealand with Australia always having been ranked in the top five and New Zealand in the top three. South Africa was sixth for periods in 2003 and 2004 but has otherwise always been in the top five and has mostly been in the top two. England, on the other hand, has had a roller coaster ride which started with its first test match after becoming World Champion. So much so that when England defeated France in the Semi Final of Rugby World Cup 2007 it was the first time since the previous World Cup that England had won four matches in a row.

Foundations Laid

While IRB World Rankings did not begin until during Rugby World Cup 2003 there was a common view held by many rugby followers from England and elsewhere that England had been the best team in the world for more than one year before the World Cup. When England defeated Ireland 45-11 at Twickenham during the 2002 Six Nations tournament the losing captain, Mike Galwey said England would have the beating of New Zealand at Twickenham at the moment.[16] The six tries to one thumping occurred just four months after their previous encounter. They had met in October 2001 in a postponed match with Ireland winning 20-14 in Dublin.[17] The difference between the two English sides was noteworthy with Galwey saying that This was a totally different side from the one we beat in the autumn.[18]

When England defeated Ireland in the 2002 Six Nations England was into what has been referred to as the Golden Era of English Rugby.[19] In a three year period covering all of 2001, 2002 and 2003 England played thirty-seven test matches winning thirty-four of them. The 91.89% winning record[20] was unprecedented. England rugby was on top of the world and it saw England go into Rugby World Cup 2003 as the tournament favorites. England was considered the best team in the world even before the beginning of the official IRB World Rankings. The World Rankings merely confirmed the inevitable. England had risen to the top by defeating everybody and doing so after a forgettable campaign at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. England’s 1999 campaign saw impressive wins over Italy and Tonga in Pool B. England won 67-7 against Italy and 101-10 against the Tongans. The Pacific Island side had begun well but a moment of madness changed the match as prop Ngalu Taufo’ou was red carded after a violent attack on English back-rower Richard Hill.[21] The incident ruined the match as a contest as England racked up try after try in a second half romp to win by 91 points after the scores were 38-10 at halftime.

In between facing Italy and Tonga England faced New Zealand, also at Twickenham. The All Blacks were heavy favorites despite the match being played in London. New Zealand had started well only for England to mount a fight back which saw the scores level at 16-16 in the 54th minute. England would not score again, however while New Zealand was able to close out the match to complete a 30-16 victory. Like in 1995 the man to cause the greatest damage to England was Jonah Lomu as the 118kg winger scored in the left corner after a 60 metre run. He had received a pass from fly half Andrew Mehrtens on his own ten metre line and was able to get past the tackles of four opponents to score the game changer. Questions were asked by England as to whether or not the try was valid. Television images certainly suggested that Lomu may have received a forward pass but it was not entirely conclusive. After the match English coach Clive Woodward challenged the decision and was also not happy with the way the match had been refereed. He said We were right there when we got back to 16 all, but there was a bad call from the referee. They were killing the ball to slow it down and we got penalized for diving in.[22]

The loss meant England would face Fiji in a play-off match, again at Twickenham and the winner would advance to face South Africa in a Quarter Final at the Stade de France in Paris. Both England and Fiji had finished second in their pools but due to their being five pools of four teams rather than four pools of five it was only the pool winners who advanced directly to the Quarter Finals. As such England faced Fiji in a midweek match five days after facing Tonga and four days before the Quarter Final. The punishment for losing against the All Blacks was not elimination but it was a stacked deck. England played its worst rugby of the tournament up until that point but was able to win comfortably in the end. Nobody was fooled though. Coaches of both sides were quick to suggest the 45-24 victory was not convincing. Woodward said I don’t think South Africa will be quaking in their boots after today. Its a game we could have lost, so I’m pleased to have won. Fijian coach Brad Johnstone said that they’ll have to play a lot better than today to beat South Africa, take the opportunities presented to them and create more breaks and moves.[23]

An unimpressive England went up against a Springbok side that had performed well to win its pool. It had defeated Scotland, Spain and Uruguay in pool play to win Pool A. It had been challenged by a strong Scottish side but was able to take control in the second half and win the match 46-29 after scoring six tries to two. South Africa had nine days to prepare for the Quarter Final, more than twice that of England. The 1995 World Cup winners were favorites for the match and it was not surprising to see South Africa advance to the Semi Finals. Although the manner in which the Springboks had won was convincing it had not been expected. Fly half Jannie de Beer kicked 34 points, including a world record five drop goals in a match to see South Africa win by a similar score line to that of England over Fiji. The 44-21 win saw both teams scoring two tries each[24] but England’s Rugby World Cup campaign was over. South Africa went on to lose the following weekend at Twickenham to the 1999 Champions, Australia.

Australia’s win came as no surprise. The Wallabies had won in 1991 and had played good rugby throughout the 1999 tournament. Australia had formed a good team that had defeated New Zealand three times in 1998 and, despite finishing the 1999 Tri Nations in second place, it had ended the tournament with an impressive 28-7 win over the All Blacks in Sydney. Australia went on to prove it was the best team in the world at the time as Australia won the 2000 and 2001 Tri Nations tournaments. In between the two tournaments Australia also performed very well in home test matches in June and in Europe in November. Australia hosted Argentina in June 2000 winning 53-6 in Brisbane and 32-25 in Canberra and it ended the year with wins over France and Scotland in Europe. It meant Australia was the odds-on favorite to defeat England in its final test of the year but in a sign of things to come England won 22-19 at Twickenham.

The following year Australia returned to Twickenham and lost again, this time by 21-15. But the English team in 2001 was different to the one from 2000. The side that would humble the Mike Galwey led Irish side in the 2002 Six Nations had become a well oiled machine in a short period of time. The November 2001 home series saw England win all three of its matches and do so shortly after losing against Ireland at Lansdowne Road. It ended a year of contrasts for Australia and England. In 2001 Australia had not only completed back-to-back Tri Nations campaigns but it had also won two games to one against the British and Irish Lions[25] in July. The visitors had started the three match series with a 29-13 victory in Brisbane and had done so by playing enterprising rugby. Australia was badly out performed but showed class and determination to win the series after winning the second test 35-15 win in Melbourne and the third 29-23 in Sydney.

Australia had defeated a very good British and Lions team and one with a large English contingent. The starting lineup for the three tests changed but it only underwent slight alterations. Twelve players started every match with the only change in the backs coming at scrum-half and in the forwards coming in the back-row. The first match saw eight English international players in the starting lineup with Matt Perry playing fullback, Jason Robinson left wing, Jonny Wilkinson fly half, Richard Hill and Martin Corry in the back-row, Danny Grewcock and captain Martin Johnson in the second-row and Phil Vickery playing tighthead prop.[26] The high concentration of English players was a reflection of the strength of the English team at the time. England had recovered from its Quarter Finals exit in 1999 to win the 2000 Six Nations and be leading the 2001 tournament before three matches were delayed until after the Lions tour.

Road to the World Cup

The road to winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup started in 2000 with the inaugural Six Nations.[27] England’s performances in 1999 were not only substandard at the World Cup but were in general. Scotland won the 1999 Five Nations by winning three of its four matches. The team’s one loss was by 24-21 against England at Twickenham. Scotland had otherwise been the best team in the competition as it won 33-20 against Wales, 30-13 against Ireland and 36-22 against France. It meant that Scotland won the tournament on point difference after England’s only loss was its 32-31 defeat against Wales at Wembley Stadium.[28] England faced the Wallabies in Sydney in June with Australia winning 22-15 before finishing its Rugby World Cup preparation with a 106-8 victory over the USA and a 36-11 win over Canada.

While the origin of the Golden Era could arguably be traced back to the loss against South Africa in Paris[29] it did not really begin until the November 2001 internationals. Between then and the previous Rugby World Cup England had shown solid improvement. It won the 2000 Six Nations after defeating Ireland 50-18, France 15-9, Wales 46-12 and Italy 59-12. It missed out on the Grand Slam by losing 19-13 against Scotland at Murrayfield. England then split a two match series in South Africa. The Springboks won the first test 18-13 in Pretoria but England leveled it with a 27-22 victory in Bloemfontein. England then performed very well at home to defeat Australia 22-19, Argentina 19-0 and South Africa 25-17 to finish 2001 on a high. By the time England lost against Ireland in October 2001 it had gone well over a year without losing. While Galwey rated the 2002 team as much better than the one from 2001 he did so having ended an eleven match winning streak.[30]

England’s progress from the 2000 Six Nations to the 2001 tournament was clear. The postponing of the match against Ireland aside, England had big wins against the four other nations. England defeated Wales 44-15 at the Millennium Stadium and then won 80-23 against Italy, 43-3 against Scotland and 48-19 against France at Twickenham. It laid the platform for England to kick-on and start its Golden Era in late 2001. Before then it saw England rewarded by Graham Henry as the then Wales and British and Irish Lions head coach selected English players in every position to take with him to Australia. England had twenty players on the 2001 tour while the 1999 Six Nations Champions, Scotland only had five.[31] Scotland’s Tom Smith was the first choice loosehead prop and started every match. The remainder of the Scottish players were either replacements or used for the midweek tour matches. Ireland and Wales both had three players in the starting lineup with Ireland’s Keith Wood playing Hooker and Rob Henderson forming an all-Irish centre combination with Brian O’Driscoll. Winger Dafydd James of Wales was joined by back-rower Scott Quinnell and scrum-half Rob Howley.

The difference between England on the one hand and Ireland and Wales on the other at this point in time was noteworthy and it was reflected in the composition of the Lions team. While England already made up the majority of the starting lineup, despite it being formed by players from four nations, it also had quality players who were not in the Lions team but in the squad. Ireland and Wales, in contrast had few other top players other than those who were starting for the Lions. While both mid-fielders were Irish no Irish winger or fullback made the initial tour squad. Tyrone Howe was a late call up to replace the injured Dan Luger but he did not play against Australia. Luger, in contrast, was one of four English wingers in the squad. Another English player who was forced out of the tour with injury was Lawrence Dallaglio. Henry’s starting number 8 was Welshman Scott Quinnell who may have otherwise been deputy to Dallaglio. Wales contributed some very good players to the team and a number would emerge in later years but from 2001-2003 they were not as good as England’s players. Back-rowers Colin Charvis and Martin Williams were stars for Wales in the 2000-2009 decade but English players kept them, out of the 2001 team. Similarly Jonny Wilkinson was preferred to Neil Jenkins.

The tour went down in history as a failure for the British and Irish Lions. In many ways it was. The top players from the four home unions had been unable to win two out of three tests. There had also been a midweek failure with Australia A defeating the Lions but overall it was a success due to the feedback it would provide the four unions and the two year period remaining before Rugby World Cup 2003. Of the thirty players who started in the third test twelve would not play in the World Cup. Eight of them were Australian, two Welsh, one Irish and one was English.[32] While some players missed out through injury in large part it was a case of players retiring or having been over taken by others. Australia’s focus on the series had ultimately complicated preparation for Rugby World Cup 2003 as it had meant that the transition from one Rugby World Cup to the next was shortened with focus being less on 2003 and more on 2001. John Eales retired from rugby having captained the Wallabies to a series victory over the Lions and to the Tri Nations title with a 29-26 win over New Zealand. He ended his career on a high and gave Australia enough time to replace him and build a new team in time for the World Cup. It took time but Australia adjusted to have a new front-row and a much changed back-row with David Lyons and Phil Waugh replacing Toutai Kefu and Owen Finegan.

Australia’s 1999 World Cup triumph combined with the Lions series triumph and the Tri Nations combined to make a strong case to suggest that the Wallabies were the world’s best team in September 2001. Australia’s end of year tour started in Madrid with a first ever test match against Spain. The visitors were far superior and, as expected, won the match 92-10. The following weekend Australia faced England at Twickenham and lost. England’s 21-15 was the true start of the Golden Era. England would play eighteen more test matches before the 2003 World Cup Final and it would win seventeen of them. The first of which was a 134-0 win over Romania - England’s largest ever win and Romania’s largest ever loss. England then hosted South Africa in its final match of the year on November 24. The 29-9 victory at Twickenham was a strong indicator of progress since 1999 and what needed to be done for 2003. On the one hand England had reason for optimism while South Africa needed to make some changes. England had beaten South Africa at its own game. England was impressive in the forwards and had a game plan which produced many opportunities for Jonny Wilkinson to kick goals.

England entered 2002 as not only a team on the rise but as a settled one. The pieces of the puzzle were seemingly all coming together nicely. The same could not be said for everybody. South African coach Harry Viljoen was replaced by Rudolph Straeuli in 2002 with Viljoen having resigned from the position. Rod Macqueen was replaced as Wallabies coach by Eddie Jones in 2001 and John Mitchell replaced Wayne Smith as the All Blacks head coach. The reasons for the changes were different in every case with Macqueen leaving on a high while Smith and Viljoen both stepped down after not being able to deliver the results expected of them. It meant that none of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had a stable coaching regime in place to see their respective teams develop in time to peak at the World Cup. The matter was further complicated by all three changing captains multiple times. The retirement of John Eales saw Brumbies scrum-half George Gregan replace him as captain in 2001. The transition was natural and Gregan had been groomed as Eales’s successor. It was a good time for Australia to have a new leader and Gregan had all the credentials to succeed.

New Zealand’s failure to win in 1999 saw Taine Randall striped of the captaincy with Wayne Smith opting for Crusaders veteran utility forward Todd Blackadder to lead the team in 2000. His selection was controversial due to there being serious questions as to whether or not he was the best player in his position. It proved to be a short term solution and Highlanders hooker Anton Oliver was named captain in 2001 with a view towards 2003 but it also proved short term as Oliver missed the entire 2012 international season after rupturing his Achilles tendon in the 2002 Super 12. John Mitchell replaced Oliver with Blackadder’s successor as Crusaders captain, Reuben Thorne who had become Crusaders captain in 2002, the same year he became All Blacks captain.

Thorne would go on to lead New Zealand at Rugby World Cup 2003 but would be replaced by Tana Umaga in 2004. The period between 1999 and 2003 was highly volatile in terms of All Blacks captaincy. The retirement of Sean Fitzpatrick and Zinzan Brooke in 1997 left the All Blacks with a significant lack of leadership. Fitzpatrick had been the All Blacks captain since 1992 and Brooke had been his deputy for the most part. The loss of both players was larger than that of Eales retiring from the Wallabies and Kefu missing Rugby World Cup 2003 through injury. Australia was able to build a new side with other players becoming leaders. New Zealand did not have such a transition. None of Randell, Blackadder, Oliver and Thorne had the same command as Fitzpatrick and none had comparable support players like that of Fitzpatrick. It was not until Umaga became captain that New Zealand was able to firmly establish a set up in which the captain was considered to be both the best player available in his position and an outstanding leader.

The four captains between Fitzpatrick and Umaga could arguably be described as being makeshift leaders. Oliver was the only one who had firm control over the starting position he played in. The others all had strong competition during their time as captain[33] but with the loss of Oliver New Zealand found a quality replacement in Keven Mealamu who would go on to be the first choice hooker at Rugby World Cup 2003. Umaga, like Eales, remained in the team long enough to face a touring Lions team in 2005. While he had only been the captain for two years there was a firm plan in place for the post-Umaga era. Like Eales, Umaga had stepped down two years before a Rugby World Cup. Umaga faced the Lions in 2005 and then played in the All Blacks end of year Grand Slam tour with him captaining New Zealand in three of the four matches. He led New Zealand against Wales, England and Scotland while Richie McCaw captained New Zealand against Ireland. The following season McCaw would take over as the fulltime captain and do so with depth in Umaga’s usual position of outside centre and also his occasional position of inside centre.[34]

The same was not true of the All Blacks teams between Rugby World Cups 1999 and 2003. One of the reasons for Blackadder playing second-row for the All Blacks in 2000 was that he had been moved to that position from the back-row where he had been used to start two tests against England in 1998. Blackadder had led the Crusaders to a first ever Super Rugby title and had done so against the Blues who had won the first two Super 12 competitions in 1996 and 1997. Blackadder held down a starting position in the back-row. He was the number 6 after also previously having played in the 8 shirt for Canterbury. Blackadder’s move to the second-row for the Crusaders took place in 1999 due to his position as a back-rower being questioned as he potentially did not have the required speed to get to the breakdown and tackle area to play in the back-row. Reuben Thorne played for the Crusaders as early as 1998 and became the team’s starting blindside flanker in 1999 with Blackadder playing in the second-row. It worked well for the Crusaders who won in 1999 and 2000 but it was less successful for the All Blacks as they only started together on three occasions at international level.[35]

During the same period South Africa also had a number of captains who were not long term solutions. Back-rower Gary Teichmann had taken over the captaincy from François Pienaar and had done very well. South Africa won 17 test matches in a row from 1997-1998 with Teichmann as captain. The team was coached by Nick Mallet who had replaced Carel du Plessis in 1997. Mallett coached the Springboks to its first Tri Nations title in 1998 but had a disastrous campaign in 1999. South Africa lost three of its four matches to finish last and it saw Mallet hand Joost van der Westhuizen the captaincy for the World Cup. Teichmann had been made a scapegoat for South Africa’s form but Mallet had also made the decision to start Bobby Skinstad ahead of Teichmann at the World Cup. Many were shocked at the axing of Teichmann and it took Mallett four years to admit his mistake. In 2003 Mallett said I could have handled the Gary Teichmann incident better and should have waited a bit longer for him to recover from injury before making the decision to leave him out. I took the decision to name my team early on to have a settled squad for the World Cup. In retrospect I regretted it. It was a bit unfair on Gary, but I have spoken to him.[36]

Joost van der Westhuizen would also captain South Africa against Uruguay at Rugby World Cup 2003 but in between hand other men captained the national side. Mallett stayed on as Springbok coach after the World Cup but he named André Vos as the new captain. Vos, like Teichmann and Skinstad played at number 8 and like both was not to survive in the position very long. Mallett resigned after the 2000 Tri Nations after his team had only won one match. His replacement, Harry Viljoen retained Vos as captain for the end of year tour but moved him from number 8 to flanker in 2001 as South Africa was to have a third number 8 captain the country in less than two years. Vos started 2001 as captain but after splitting a two match home series against France,[37] Vos was replaced as captain by Bobby Skinstad. Both Skinstad and Vos were in the team for the rest of 2001 with Vos playing his final test against the USA in December. Skinstad captained South Africa in its two match home series against Wales in June 2002 but was replaced by Corné Krige thereafter.

Rudolph Straeuli was looking to rebuild and do so quickly after he had been appointed the new coach replacing Viljoen who had stood down. The Straeuli-Krige combination endured as the coach and captain throughout most of 2002 and all of 2003 including at the Rugby World Cup. It was a stable period in terms of leaders but not in terms of results as South Africa would only win one match in each of the 2002 and 2003 Tri Nations tournaments. It was too late to change again though as despite the fact that Straeuli had seen South Africa suffer humiliating losses with him in charge there was no time to appoint another coach. The constant change in personal of both captain and coach was no doubt preventing the Springboks from reaching its potential in time for Rugby World Cup 2003. It was no real surprise that South Africa was eliminated at the Quarter Finals stage given how heavily it had been defeated over the twelve months leading up to the tournament. South Africa’s November 2002 tour of Europe saw the proud African nation return home winless. South Africa lost 30-10 against France, 21-6 against Scotland and 53-3 against England. While South Africa had opened its World Cup campaign with a 72-6 win over Uruguay it was not comforting for players or fans as three months earlier New Zealand had defeated South Africa 52-16 in Pretoria.

While South Africa’s preparation for Rugby World Cup 2003 was far from ideal its Pool C opponent, England was entering the World Cup as tournament favorites. On and off the field England entered the tournament in very good shape. Clive Woodward had endured and blossomed as English coach since first being appointed in 1997 and his captain from Rugby World Cup 1999 was still in charge four years later. The Golden Era had seen the Woodward-Johnson regime deliver consistently at the top level throughout 2002 and 2003. England started its 2002 Six Nations campaign with a 29-3 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield in February. Two weeks later Ireland was defeated 45-11 at Twickenham which set up the likely tournament decider - France v England at the Stade de France. It was a round three match but the form of both sides indicated that they were likely to win their remaining matches. France’s 20-15 win saw Les Bleus go on to win the Six Nations Grand Slam and meant England had to settle for second. England defeated Wales 50-10 at Twickenham in March and then defeated Italy 45-9 in April to finish the tournament with a for and against record of + 131. Champions France, in contrast, had a +81record. England then played a one off test in Buenos Aires and did so with a second string team. While Argentina had big name players such as Agustín Pichot, Felipe Contepomi, Ignacio Corleto and Omar Hasan England was without players including Johnson, Back, Dallaglio, Dawson, Greenwood, Hill, Robinson and Wilkinson. The 26-18 victory was therefore close to being a second string English team and nine of the starting fifteen would not be selected for the 30 man squad for Rugby World Cup 2003.[38]

When England next played it would be at home but even at full strength it would be considered a much tougher assignment. England’s home series in November 2002 was against each of the three members of the Tri Nations. It started with a match against the champions, New Zealand who had won three of its four matches in that year’s tournament. England fielded a side featuring fourteen players who would make the World Cup squad. Woodward clearly had his World Cup well planned out in advance and he used the match to give some players chances. Regular starting back-rower Neil Back was on the bench with Lewis Moody instead starting and James Simpson-Daniel playing wing.[39] New Zealand, in contrast fielded a side featuring eight players who would not make the World Cup.[40] John Mitchell was experimenting to some extent but the bigger picture was that this tour was his last chance to try out players ahead of the World Cup as the remaining fixtures were to be played from June to August and the World Cup would begin in October.

While some players had been left behind to be given more time ahead of the World Cup the players that had been picked were selected due to having performed well in the National Provincial Championship (NPC)[41] and were genuinely playing for places in Australia 2003. The likes of Carlos Spencer and Ali Williams became first choice players in their positions during this tour. Williams was making his international debut after impressing for Auckland. He formed a new second-row combination with Keith Robinson who was also on debut. Robinson would not make the squad for Rugby World Cup 2003 but he and Williams would be the second-row pairing against France in the Rugby World Cup Quarter Final match in Cardiff.

The match was the beginning of the end for Jonah Lomu. He would play in all three of New Zealand’s matches that November but would be forced out of rugby the following year requiring a kidney transplant.[42] He was, nevertheless, showing no signs of suffering against England in 2002. To the contrary, Lomu was continuing his sensational performances from previous years against the English. Lomu was responsible for the match being competitive. Without his efforts England would likely have won the match comfortably. England held a 31-14 lead before Lomu scored his second try shortly before the 60 minute mark.[43] England had built its lead with Jonny Wilkinson scoring 21 points including a try. The game appeared to be over but Lomu turned it on its head and New Zealand scored another try before England held out to win 31-28.

England hosted Australia the following weekend and made it two from two in November as winger Ben Cohen went over to score a match winning try after Jason Robinson had broken the line. England’s 32-31 victory was against an Australian side loaded with players that would make the squad for Rugby World Cup 2003. England made two changes with Ben Kay replacing Danny Grewcock and Neil Back replacing Lawrence Dallaglio in an altered back-row which saw Richard Hill play at number 8. Seventeen of Australia’s match day 22 would go on to play at the World Cup and thirteen of them were a part of the World Cup Final.[44] It meant that England’s two wins from two mathes in the ongoing November home series had England well placed eleven months before the World Cup.

Speculation was growing surrounding the possibility of England facing Australia or New Zealand in the knock-out stages of the Rugby World Cup. There was a strong argument to be made that these three and France were arguably the four top contenders. The Springboks had come off losses against France and Scotland and was the clear underdog. South Africa though, is not a team to ever be disregarded and with England and South Africa drawn together their match in London on November 23 2002 carried extra importance. England fielded a settled lineup but one with minor alterations. Fourteen of the starting XV would play at the World Cup. South Africa was entirely different with only four players making Straeuli’s 30 man squad. The match itself underlined how well England was preparing as well as how poorly South Africa was. England’s Golden Era was South Africa’s rock-bottom. England utterly outplayed South Africa to humiliate the Africans by 53-3. It was the biggest loss in the history of Springbok rugby and was down to much more than how good England was rather than South Africa playing close to three quarters of the match with fourteen players. Second-rower Jannes Labuschagne had been red carded in the 23rd minute for foul play after he had taken out Jonny Wilkinson with a late hit.[45]

The scale of the loss was of grave concern for South Africa but most alarming was the lack of time to make corrections and settle on a team for the World Cup. England played the three match home series with Mike Tindall and Will Greenwood as its centre combination. They played outside Jonny Wilkinson in what was a 10-12-13 combination primed for the challenge of the Rugby World Cup. Woodward and Johnson had earned the confidence of their players while Straeuli was in big trouble after having taken the position with less than two years before the World Cup and having been badly defeated by multiple sides. Neither centre that had faced Tindall and Greenwood in 2002 would play in Australia 2003. Instead Straeuli would have De wet Barry and Jorrie Muller play as South Africa’s mid-field at the World Cup. It was a combination thrown together against Australia in August, two months before the World Cup. It was also South Africa’s seventh different mid-field combination used in the year of 2003 and from 2000-2003 a staggering total of thirty-five different mid-field combinations were used.[46]

Inconsistencies in selection were very common and Straeuli was criticized for changing players at will. Werner Greeff has been singled out as South Africa’s best fullback and was expected to start against England in Perth. He had started against England in November 2002 but at Rugby World Cup 2003 his only match at fullback was against Uruguay. Straeuli instead picked Jaco van der Westhuizen at fullback, a player who had not been in the initial World Cup squad.[47] South Africa was in disarray while England was masterminding its way to glory. Woodward’s squad for Rugby World Cup 2003 featured fifteen returning players from 1999.[48] It was a side that appeared to have been well thought out in advance and, unlike South Africa and to a lesser extent New Zealand, the players that featured in 2002 were close to being the same ones that would play in 2003. The Golden Era was therefore not only about quality tries and a well organized team but it was also very successful due to talent identification and player management having come together at the right time.

England entered 2003 as favorites for the Six Nations. With France also having played well in the previous November the 2003 Le Crunch match loomed as the one to define the tournament. It was played in the first round with England hosting and defeating France 25-17. Had it been a Rugby World Cup pool match France would not have collected a bonus point. England demonstrated its potential to win the World Cup by only conceding one try in the rest of the 2003 Six Nations. England defeated Wales 26-9 in Cardiff, Italy 40-5 and Scotland 40-9 at Twickenham and Ireland 43-9 in Dublin. It gave England its twelfth Six Nations Grand Slam but more importantly England had been able to defend very well and also score tries. England scored eighteen in the tournament - one against France, two against Wales, six against Italy, four against Scotland and five against Ireland. France scored seventeen while Ireland scored ten in total but scored no tries against either France or England.

Ireland’s 15-12 win over France meant Ireland finished second and France third. All three had high hopes for the World Cup after performing well in November 2002 against Southern Hemisphere opposition. France toured Argentina and Australia in June 2002 and lost all three matches losing 28-27 in Buenos Aires, 29-17 in Melbourne and 31-25 in Sydney but recovered to go undefeated at home in 2002. France hosted South Africa, New Zealand and Canada in November and closed out the year happily with a 20 point win over South Africa, a 32 point win over Canada and a 20-20 draw against New Zealand. Ireland had done better. After qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2003 in September 2002[49] Ireland hosted Australia, Fiji and Argentina in November. Like England and France the Irish went undefeated while Australia, New Zealand and South Africa all lost matches. Ireland’s results were an 18-9 victory over Australia, a 54-17 victory over Fiji and a 16-7 win against Argentina. With Ireland facing both Australia and Argentina at the World Cup the results were very encouraging. There was room to believe Ireland could win its pool and advance far in the tournament.

The Irish team provided further encouragement for its fans in the 2003 Six Nations by defeating France but its heavy home loss against England cast doubt over Ireland’s credentials. Ireland toured Oceania in June 2003 facing Australia, Tonga and Samoa. It began with a 45-16 loss against Australia but defeated Tonga 40-19 and Samoa 40-14. Ireland’s confidence was shaken by the loss against Australia but Ireland nonetheless went into Rugby World Cup 2003 on a five match winning streak after defeating Wales 35-12, Italy 61-6 and Scotland 29-10 in pre-Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in August and September. Of its two losses the one against England was the biggest and it was in Dublin. The results implied that Ireland had great potential but lacked the necessary consistency required to go far in the World Cup. Ireland played well against Argentina and Australia winning 16-15 against Los Pumas and losing 17-16 against Australia. It booked a Quarter Final which saw Ireland dumped out of the World Cup after France punished Irish mistakes to win 43-21 in Melbourne.

Ireland had talented players with hooker Keith Wood and centre Brian O’Driscoll arguably being the leading players in their positions at the World Cup and during the bulk of the 1999-2003 period. But they were not surrounded by enough quality players needed to go beyond the Quarter Finals. It had seen Ireland improve significantly from 1999 to have a strong home record. On the road the results were not as impressive however. The highlight was a 27-25 away victory against France in the 2000 Six Nations. Its results in June tours were not so strong. Ireland lost 34-23 against Argentina and drew 27-27 against Canada in 2000. It did not tour in June 2001 because of the Lions tour while in 2002 Ireland lost 15-6 and 40-8 against New Zealand in Dunedin and Auckland.

The following year was World Cup year and England prepared for the World Cup with a two match tour of New Zealand and Australia in June. The 2003 Super 12 season gave Australians and New Zealanders reason to feel confident of their teams chances at the World Cup. The title was won by the Blues who defeated the Crusaders 21-17 in the final and the ACT Brumbies 42-21 in the Semi Final. The leading scorer was Carlos Spencer with 143 points and the top try scorer was Doug Howlett who scored 12 tries. The Hurricanes were also Semi Finalists meaning no South African franchise made the top four. South Africa’s best side was the Bulls who finished sixth behind the New South Wales Waratahs who were tied on points with the ACT Brumbies but did not advance due to the Brumbies having a superior record.

The New Zealand side that faced England in Wellington in June was much changed from the one that had lost the previous November in London. Super 12 form was noted by John Mitchell who selected Spencer at fly half and Howlett at fullback, where he had been playing for the Blues, and also handed debuts to Joe Rokocoko and Ma’a Nonu who had been outstanding for the Blues and Hurricanes respectively. The team was otherwise made up of players who had been the best in their positions throughout Mitchell’s time as All Blacks coach. The back-row featured Reuben Thorne as captain, Richie McCaw at openside flanker and Rodney So’oialo at number 8. Chris Jack and Ali Williams were the second-rowers; Anton Oliver was back at hooker being joined by Dave Hewett and Greg Somerville in the front-row. The backs were noteworthy due to Spencer replacing Mehrtens but also Caleb Ralph starting in place of Jonah Lomu. Mils Muliaina was on the bench and would debut in this match. Two of New Zealand’s leading figures, Tana Umaga and Justin Marshall completed the team at inside centre and scrum-half. It was a strong team and one with an eye to the World Cup. Fourteen of the starting XV went to the World Cup as did all seven replacements.[50]

The match loomed as the ultimate test of English rugby in the Golden Era. Wellington delivered stereotypical wet conditions which meant the chances of a high scoring match were minimal. New Zealand scored the game’s only try with Doug Howlett collecting a kick from Spencer to go over in the second half. It reduced the lead to two points but was lucky to have been awarded as replays showed that Howlett was offside, by virtue of being in front of Spencer, when the kick was made. England won the match 15-13 due to its impressive defense and Jonny Wilkinson’s accurate kicking. Wilkinson scored all of England’s points with four