Loose Pass: England’s ‘missing trick’, anthem ‘killing’ and getting Tier 2 nations through the backdoor

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with Europe’s juniors, Black Lions and the tier two weekend, and anthem-killing…

The missing trick

Congratulations to England’s U20 for their dominant win over a French team fancied by many. England’s growling pack never gave the French a sniff however, in a performance that would have had distant men’s team coach Steve Borthwick coming as close to cooing as would be possible. Look forward to seeing those props in particular making their way up to the men’s team sooner rather than later.

But anybody believing that the success automatically heralds a new era of dominance for England ought to sit back and think again. The English U20 team was in six consecutive finals from 2013 to 2018 but in the period since up to now, when you’d be expecting that generation to come of age, the senior team has won only one Six Nations championship.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s generation has generally gone from strength to strength in the same period, yet the Irish U20 team has been only runners-up twice in the U20 championship, once in 2016 and once in 2023. France’s U20 team has, however, dominated the U20 Championship since just before covid in much the same way England’s did in that mid-teenies period. Despite the disappointment of the past World Cup, it’s fair to say that the U20 success has led to the knock-on effect in the senior team which England’s did not.

So what is different? Two notable things: firstly, it should not be forgotten that a sprinkling of players who would have been with the French U20 team were busy making full international appearances against a loaded Argentina team. Secondly, most of the U20s on show this weekend past have a decent amount of practical Top 14 or ProD2 experience under their belts, as starters as well as replacements. The top-flight credentials of those on tour in Argentina such as Baptiste Jauneau, Lenni Nouchi and Theo Attisogbe are by now well-established.

Irish franchise teams also are good at getting youngsters their top-flight game-time early, enabling the development of youngsters such as Jamie Osborne.

This, then, is Borthwick’s big mission: ensuring the clubs give youth its fling at club level, especially in the Champions Cup but also in the Premiership. And he could do a lot worse than talk to his employers about the evisceration of the Championship as well; the ProD2 in France has served as a far more battle-toughening stepping stone for France’s young hopefuls than the Premiership Rugby Cup.

In the pre-Covid era, English club sides were spending money with enough abandon that three clubs went belly-up. That money is not there any more, so the incentive to get the youngsters into the top teams is also high. If Borthwick succeeds here, on the basis of last week, England’s future is bright indeed.

The place is set

Spain beating Tonga. Spain’s U20 beating Fiji. Georgia on tour in Australia and only two points behind the Wallabies with 25 to go. Portugal on tour in South Africa and leading the Boks after a quarter of the match.

It was a great weekend for the tier two nations, but with the onset of the Long World Cup, such weekends are going to be gone before they can get really interesting.

England win World Rugby U20 Championship to end France’s period of dominance

But the past week saw a number of reports surface examining the possibility of Georgia’s Black Lion team joining the United Rugby Championship. A great idea. Why not a Spanish side as well? Why not a Portuguese side too (arguments about too many teams and fixtures notwithstanding)?

Sceptics would assert that it would be akin to having national teams in a club competition, but that simply isn’t true. Twelve of the 30-man Spanish touring squad for this window ply their trade outside of Spain, it would be idle to presume that this number would not grow. For the Georgians, that number rises to 21. For Portugal, it is 15 – and for all three nations, it is the better players who end up elsewhere.

If a Spanish team containing the leftovers means that it is a club team with up to 18 full internationals in its squad… well, have you looked at the profile of the Leinster, Glasgow or Benetton squads recently?

The Long World Cup, unfortunately, closes the door to these nations just when their foot is firmly wedged in front of it. If we could find a way to get a couple of clubs in through the back door, that would be just fine.

The usual suspects

Loose Pass harbours a lot of sympathy for Marla Kavanaugh. Asked to sing her national anthem as a performer, she did so to the best of her not inconsiderable ability. She also did so in horrible acoustics, through dire tannoy speakers more normally used to announce directions to the hot dog stand, and in front of an audience who had paid to watch something else.

The problem is not her performance, it is that she was asked to do so at all. What is it that makes the organisers think that having these singers perform in conditions totally unsuited to such performances (meaning anybody who appreciates the talent is unable to) and in front of thousands of people who simply don’t like such singing, is a good idea?

The anthems before matches are special moments for players and fans alike to share and inspire one another with moments of patriotic unity. Nobody who belts out their national anthem proudly gives a stuff who sings, or how well. It’s about the enjoyment of doing so and the feelings it engenders. Such staged performances as Ms. Kavanaugh’s, filtered as they are through sound systems which downgrade her excellent voice to something more akin to a fighter jet struggling for control, completely neutralise those feelings for players and fans alike; one of the top facets of international matchday enjoyment. Isn’t the day supposed to be for their enjoyment?

It should never fall to a singer to be so vilified for doing something they are good at and with the pride they put into it. So for those abusing Ms. Kavanaugh, please re-align the keyboard crosshairs at the idiots who set her up for the fall.

And not for the first time in this column: for goodness’ sake stop taking our matchday anthems away.

READ MORE: ‘My poor ears’ – All Blacks fans slam ‘worst ever’ rendition of New Zealand’s national anthem