Jeff Probyn’s column: Hopefully England will go one better than us in ‘91 and win it

With the phoney war over, now is the time for the squad to focus on the challenges that lie ahead. The results over the past four weeks have brought elation and despair in equal measure as England have surprised and disappointed with wins and defeats as they sought to build momentum heading into the World  Cup.
The prospect of facing both Wales and Australia would have appeared to be slightly less daunting with a straight run of victories leading into the competition – but in truth those warm up games were just a way for the coaches to firm up on what they had already decided.
With just a matter of days until the first game, the squad will now begin the ‘wind down’ in fitness training and increase the number of skill sessions in the hope of achieving match readiness.
When commencing intense training of the kind that all the teams have endured in their preparations for the World Cup, match fitness is lost because the demands of the game are different to anything that you can replicate in a gym.
This explains some of the erratic play we have seen in the warm-up games, for although your stamina and fitness are improved, you need to play a number of games to maximise the benefits of the extra fitness training.
As the first game approaches, the tension in the various camps will increase as the players seek to be selected for the first game because they know that usually, if you make the opening game you will be the first choice player and are more likely to play in the big games.
That is particularly true for the England players as they will be playing the first game immediately after the opening ceremony and as the home team they will be expected to get the show off with a bang.
The fact that England’s pool has been christened ‘the Pool of Death’ and the first game for them is against Fiji, gives them a chance to put down a marker and set a target for their two main rivals in the group, Wales and Australia.
With such a tight group it is possible that qualifying for the knockout stage could come down to points difference which puts pressure on the big three sides to score as many points as possible against Uruguay and Fiji.
Although Fiji are Pacific Champions and cannot be taken lightly, if England, Wales and Australia play to their potential and play the right style of game – a tight forward dominated one (you don’t play Sevens against Fiji) – they should win but it is the margin in these games that could decide their fate.
Sadly, Uruguay are the team that will suffer some big defeats as their amateur players try and contain the professionals of the other four nations in the group.
Even though I have some feelings of trepidation, I feel England playing at home will qualify; not, as the hype would have you believe because of the fans, but because they know Twickenham better than their opponents.
When you are on the pitch the noise for the spectators is just that: noise. You can’t really hear if they are cheering or booing. Either way it gives you a boost and helps to raise your game, but the advantage of playing at home comes from understanding the pitch and the different way the ball reacts to the myriad of different ways modern pitches are put together.
Twickenham is a composite mix of real and synthetic grass which does make a difference to how the ball bounces over the surface. Add to that the fact that as an English player, you are playing in your national stadium with all the history, hopes and dreams that represents for the nation, you would play out of your skin – even if the stadium was empty.
As part of the only England team to play in a World Cup at home I can tell you it is a different experience from playing in another country, particularly if the team does well.
By the time we reached the final in ’91 all the players began to get recognised in the street, but until the World Cup most of us players lived in relative obscurity despite the fact that we had won the first Grand Slam by an English team for eleven years.
Back then, you weren’t really recognised as Five Nations Champions – you either won a Grand Slam or nothing – even though we Home Unions could also win a Triple Crown if we lost to France and beat the other Home Unions.
The Five Nations was a competition that was really only of interest to rugby fans – but a World Cup is different, particularly when it is on your doorstep and in your home for free on ITV.
At first, we won a brutal quarter-final in Paris and then a tense semi-final in Scotland. Then, noticeably, people who had no interest in the game suddenly became fans, as the possibility that we might actually do something nobody had dreamt of and win.
Despite our best efforts we lost to Australia – but we had taken rugby to a new audience. Hopefully Stuart Lancaster‘s squad can do what we failed to do and win the World Cup at home.