I’m rooting for the opposition

No, I’m not talking about anything serious like the shooting war going on in the Middle East… I’m talking rugby.

Let me be upfront by disclosing that, much to the disgust of most of the fans I know, I am a club team first, national team second person. I absolutely love to see my club players getting picked for the national team (am less thrilled when they send them back broken), but my heart will always lie with the lads in the multi-coloured quarters and not the red rose of England.

Nevertheless, I am a supporter of our national rugby team and, in the past, have paid significant sums to watch them live. I do all the things a supporter is meant to do – I’m loud and proud in my support at the ground and I not inclined to trash talk any of the players/management. But that doesn’t mean I’m blind to faults and weaknesses and, in the privacy of my own home, I indulge in some critical talking – at both club and national level.

One huge point of difference is that no matter how badly my club team is performing… I would never wish for the opposition to beat them. But, tomorrow, I am hoping to see the opposition – Italy – beat England for the first time ever in their playing history.

There are many reasons for this, but first a bit of background…

• Italy have taken a massive amount of stick over the years about being not good enough to remain in the tournament.
  
• Despite the multiple years of losses, the Italian team always turned up, worked hard, played their best, and not given up until the final whistle is blown.
  
• The Italian players have always been demonstrably proud to represent their country.
  
• Whether win or lose, the Italian side have always behaved with grace.
  
• Italy are currently playing cracking rugby.
  
• The English are not…
  
  Now on to the real reasons…
  
• The English have approached the current tournament with a degree of arrogance and the presumption they would run out winners of the whole thing (they will not, they’ve already been beaten twice).
  
• Despite having had a winning run of 12 games until the 2 losses in this tournament, the England team has looked average. But, because they were winning, no-one was doing anything to make improvements.
  
• The English coaching team insist on playing players out of position, and their game plan is as dull as ditchwater. Worse, they appear to only have the one plan, and when it doesn’t work, the lack of a back-up or alternative plan is excruciating to witness.
  
• England need to be beaten in order to get a good shake up before the really big tournament in 2 years time, and Italy beating them for the first time (let alone it being the third defeat on the trot) should do it. In truth, next week they’re likely to be beaten again when they play France, so almost a reverse whitewash.
  
• This is the second coaching call England rugby’s governing body have got badly wrong on the trot, so it’ll cost them loads of money to extricate themselves (again). But, New Zealand rugby recently fired their coach because their team wasn’t playing to the level which the quality of players they have at their disposal indicates they should, which is the identical situation to the English team. So if they’re serious about success, they really need to pony up.

Now there are a lot of England rugby fans who fear the loss will happen, and almost as many who are forecasting it will happen – but I’m not sure how many will actively be hoping for it to happen as I am. I am confident I won’t be alone, but I wonder how many would admit to it?

Am I a disgrace and should I be sent to the naughty corner? Or have I presented a reasonable defense for my decision? (The scenarios I’ve presented above are in no way limited to the game of rugby, but to any type of team sports).

© Debs Carey, 2026

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PostScript: I wrote this on Friday. On Saturday the Italian rugby team beat the English rugby team. There remains one more round of games in this tournament. At the present time, no heads have rolled…