RUGBY MATTERS

BRENDAN GALLAGHER
A weekly look at the game’s other talking points

Heroes all: The North West Counties team leave the field after their famous victory over New Zealand

NOVEMBER 22 is nearly upon us again and of course it’s an emotive day for English rugby – can it really be 15 years since Martin Johnson’s team won the World Cup in Sydney? A long period of English dominance seemed indicated, the conveyor belt of players and coaches in the pipeline, but then it all started to unravel.
But for some, not least the 12,000 who witnessed it in the flesh, ...