Off to Twickenham

Well tomorrow is a big day as I get to go to Twickenham for England's opening fixture in this year's RBS Six Nations. Long gone is any expectation of England actually winning the competition, and I'm even somewhat nervous about their ability to win tomorrow, but they should be okay.

It's an odd thing, sport. I guess had I not gone to a Grammar School in the 70's I would probably be less interested in rugby that I would be in football. But rugby is the winter game I played and so rugby is the game I enjoy most. 

Anyway, I'll be one amongst eighty thousand watching to see if there are signs that last year's appointment of Martin Johnson is going to make the difference. The autumn internationals suggest that little changed in the early days of his ascension to the throne. 

I worry that those who make such appointments have fallen into the search for a messiah for English rugby rather than taking a long hard look at what has gone wrong since 2003. I wonder, has anyone looked at the successful years and compared the structure, the management, the training etc. of that era to this? I certainly don't envy Johnson his task and I certainly wish him well and let's hope they can compete. We will have something of an idea at 4:00pm tomorrow!