A social outing I had arranged for Saturday evening had to be postponed but my disappointment was tempered by the fact it would enable me to watch England v Wales in the Rugby World Cup. And a fine match it was too.
However my enjoyment was somewhat tainted by the manner in which the England team allowed a winning position and performance to slip away from them.
A week earlier I had applauded Japan for opting to push for a winning try against the mighty South Africa when a successfully taken penalty kick would have given them a very creditable draw. Oh how I admired their determination and cheered their success. It was a brave decision which rounded off a superb performance.
Yet when England were faced with the same choice with 3 minutes remaining, they opted for a lineout and a try scoring opportunity and I groaned. And of course it all went horribly wrong.
So why did I applaud the Japanese and criticise the English for making the same decision? Simply because England had lost a 10 point lead, Wales were clearly in the ascendancy and having won their first game, a draw would have not been a bad result for England. A successful penalty kick would have brought them back into the game with 3 minutes remaining to possibly push for a win.
The decision was wrong and consequently England now must beat Australia next week to have any chance of progressing into the quarter finals. Of course I will still be cheering for their success but with little real confidence.
I suspect that the prices of England replica rugby jerseys might fall dramatically in the next seven days.
As a footnote I should add that Wales thoroughly deserved their success for their second half performance. Well done Wales.
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