English rugby exposed?

I've just watched the Ospreys thrash the Worcester Warriors at home. I think it was 47-16. It could easily have been more, quite a bit more, one-sided.

The Warriors played a style of rugby that got England (along with some luck of the teams they met) into the RWC final. Not at such a high level, but the same style of rugby. The Ospreys played rugby that I'm moved to describe as "All Black Rugby" - although if I was a few years older I might describe it as "Golden Years Welsh Rugby."

A few broken tackles and the Ospreys exploited the gaps and scored the points. One of the things it does is highlight just what the defensive effort from the England side must have been like, because the missed tackles weren't there. Again the side, as is common for the ABs, that had less of the ball won, and in this case won comfortably. Why? It's not that hard to analyse really. Get the ball, burst a tackle, score. It doesn't take long. Defend when they've got the ball, slow it down in the rucks (not always completely legally, but often legally, the Warriors couldn't clean a ruck out to secure fast ball to save their lives all afternoon). Rinse and repeat until they give you the ball, then score yourselves and they have the ball for longer than you, but you win the match.

There were other things too. The last try, OK, the Warriors were well beaten by then, but it was pretty typical of the ambition. The ball comes from a kick-off. The Ospreys run with the ball. Someone breaks a tackle and runs on, there is a support player there, pass, tackle, next support player. When Lee Byrne trotted over the line with 5 people outside him, just behind that line of three-quarters was a line of forwards. Props, hookers, you name it. That's 80m up field at the end of the match they've just run.

Another good indicator - Shane Williams v Gavin Quinnell. Shane is tiny, amazing footwork, but if he played in an under-16's match he'd not be one of the bigger players. Gavin Quinnell might not be the biggest of the Quinnells, but he's a big, strong man. At one point, within a couple of metres of the try line he breaks off, and the first person to hit him was Shane Williams. He didn't stop him, but he slowed him down and the rest of the team hit Quinnell back, no try. Out on the wing, one on one, same thing. Put the ball in Williams' hands and a bit of sparkling footwork, two players left looking ashamed and a 60m run in for a try.

Mad though it may have been, you can see why the Warriors are bottom of their league. I could see, so clearly, why the final was so bad. A team with no ambition to try and move the ball and score ground out dull win after dull win. Kudos to their defence for letting them be that close, but they also dragged the other side down to their style of play. As soon as that style of play meets a team that is good enough not to get dragged down, it's a landslide, but at least it's fun to watch.