U20 World Cup Semifinals

Oldman1 wrote: French Connection, given your experience in both England and France what does the RFU need to do to get England to a position where we can compete with France ?

England were already there and were reaping the rewards at u18, u20 and student level until the RFU appointed that great player development guru Dean Ryan!!! 

Runitback wrote: Jasper I agree 100 percent and this is what filters through, don’t expect England men’s team to fair much better over the next few years. France and Ireland showing all Other 6 nations teams how to run the game !!! France U20 outstanding , 3 years in a row

Oldman1 wrote: French Connection, given your experience in both England and France what does the RFU need to do to get England to a position where we can compete with France ?

As I have said, my point is in no way at all a dig at private schools, and certainly not at the boys and parents that choose to accept scholarships. I understand completely and not many would turn that down. I have many good friends and former colleagues who work in that system and I have nothing but respect for them. Don’t forget however that many of the players coming from the private school system didn’t get there by scholarships but went born into that world and went through prep schools. There is also an increasing tendency for the top rugby playing independent schools to recruit and offer scholarships to boys from other independent schools. However all of this is incidental to my main point, which is the fact that the vast majority of ordinary working class people don’t know anything at all about scholarships-all they see is that if you don’t go to a private school and have money, rugby is not for you and you they therefore have no interest in it- eve as spectators. That is the way it is in England unfortunately and it’s far from ideal. It means that boys who have never touched a rugby ball by the age of 14 and who therefore have no chance of getting a scholarship are lost to the game forever, even though they may have the physical and mental capability to excel. How the RFU change that is really, really complicated and will certainly take a long time if it even possible at all. In France the challenge was different in that the game was divided along regional and geographical lines. It used to be that if you weren’t from the south west, you had little chance. If you went back 30 years virtually the whole national side was from a very small area down there. The FFR have done a brilliant job of spreading the game to the whole country and now there are lots more clubs at the top 4 or 5 levels all across the country. This gives aspiration to young players everywhere and widens the net. The challenge in England is to widen that net in terms of appeal and possibilities along social lines. 

Oldman1 wrote: French Connection, given your experience in both England and France what does the RFU need to do to get England to a position where we can compete with France ?

Not many public schools in the North East. However we do have a lot of clubs with thriving mini and junior sections . In the Tees Valley we have two in Darlington, two in Middlesbrough. two in East Cleveland, three in Stockton and five in Hartlepool, turning out hundreds of kids every Sunday morning.

Neasham, that's good news about Durham Uni!

French Connection wrote: tigerburnie wrote: I think I can answer that one, they have got rid of Eddie Jones, so the job is already done. Can Borthwick and the rest of the Leicester Tigers Premiership winning coaching squad perform a miracle on the pitch? well that is the big money question. That’s just tinkering around the edges and not really what I’m talking about here, which is the fundamental and inbuilt differences between France and England. But on your point above, have you ever wondered why he’s had to take almost the entire Tigers coaching team to work with him? If you speak to a few people that know him you may be enlightened a little. And there’s no room for Alex Mitchell, in mine and many others’ opinions the best attacking 9 in England while we have 2 from one club, one of them being  way, way past his best…..and a 36 year old prop from the same club making a return to the squad, again way past his best….Hmmm if we do well, I’ll be the first to say hats off, but it doesn’t look great to me.

rugbychris wrote: I believe some of the issues around rugby in England cannot be changed. It simply isn't accessible to young people in urban areas. Look at London. Zones 1 - 3 probably have a population of 4+ million and only 3 or 4 rugby clubs. Space is at an absolute premium, where are young people in urban areas expected to learn and play the game? All bar 1 of the 12 secondary schools we work with around Peckham/Bermondsey have no access to grass pitches. Most have 800+ pupils and only half an astro.  Play football/basketball with your friends on your doorstep or travel 45mins on the bus to play rugby?

Edited by Se7en - 20 Jul 2023 at 07:50