Loose Pass: England’s ‘missing trick’, anthem ‘killing’ and Tier 2: Planet Rugby

This week we will mainly focus on the European Juniors, Black Lions and the tier-2 weekend, as well as killing anthems…

The missing trick

Congratulations to England U20 for their dominant victory over a French team that many had come to appreciate. However, England’s snarling pack didn’t give the French a second glance, in a performance that the men’s distant coach Steve Borthwick would have come as close to cooing as he could. I look forward to seeing those props in particular make their way into the men’s team sooner rather than later.

But anyone who believes that success will automatically herald a new era of dominance for England should think again. England’s U20s reached the finals six times in succession between 2013 and 2018, but in the period since then, when you might expect that generation to come of age, the senior team has won just one Six Nations championship.

Meanwhile, the Irish generation has generally gone from strength to strength over the same period, but the Irish U20 team has only finished runners-up in the U20 Championship twice, once in 2016 and once in 2023. The French U20 team, however, have dominated the U20 Championship since just before Covid, in much the same way that England did in that mid-teens period. Despite the disappointment of the last World Cup, it’s fair to say that the success of the U20s has led to a knock-on effect in the senior team, which England didn’t.

So what’s different? Two notable things: firstly, it shouldn’t be forgotten that a number of players who would have been in the French U20 team were busy making full international appearances against a loaded Argentinian side. Secondly, most of the U20s on show this weekend have a fair amount of practical Top 14 or ProD2 experience under their belts, both as starters and substitutes. The top-flight credentials of those on tour in Argentina, such as Baptiste Jauneau, Lenni Nouchi and Theo Attisogbe, are now well established.

Irish franchise teams are also good at getting young players into the top division early on, allowing young players like Jamie Osborne to develop.

This, then, is Borthwick’s great mission: to ensure that clubs give their youngsters their chance at club level, particularly in the Champions Cup, but also in the Premiership. And he could do a lot worse than talk his employers into dismantling the Championship; the ProD2 in France has served as a much stronger stepping stone for young French hopefuls than the Premiership Rugby Cup.

In the pre-Covid era, English club teams spent so much money that three clubs went bust. That money is no longer there, so the incentive to get youngsters into the top teams is also great. If Borthwick succeeds, based on last week, England’s future looks bright indeed.

The place is set

Spain beat Tonga. Spain U20 beat 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 game.

It was a great weekend for the countries in the second division, but with the start of the Long World Cup, these kinds of weekends are over before they become really interesting.

England wins Rugby U20 World Cup, ending French dominance

But over the past week, a number of reports have surfaced that have explored the possibility of Georgia’s Black Lion team competing in the United Rugby Championship. A great idea. Why not a Spanish team too? Why not a Portuguese team too (despite arguments about too many teams and fixtures)?

Sceptics would argue that it would be similar to national teams in a club competition, but that simply isn’t true. Twelve of Spain’s 30-man touring squad for this window ply their trade outside Spain, and it would be foolish to assume that number wouldn’t grow. For the Georgians, that number rises to 21. For Portugal, it’s 15 – and for all three nations, it’s the better players who end up elsewhere.

If a Spanish team with the remnants means it is a club team with a maximum of 18 full internationals in the squad… well, have you looked at the profiles of the Leinster, Glasgow or Benetton teams recently?

Unfortunately, the Long World Cup closes the door on these countries just as their foot is firmly in front of it. If we could find a way to get a few clubs in through the back door, that would be great.

The usual suspects

Loose Pass has a lot of sympathy for Marla Kavanaugh. When she was asked to sing her national anthem as a featured artist, she did it to the best of her ability. She did it in terrible acoustics, through terrible announcers normally used to announce directions to the hot dog stand, and for an audience that had paid to see something else.

The problem is not her performance, but that she was asked to do so at all. What makes the organizers think it is a good idea to have these singers perform in circumstances that are totally unsuitable for such performances (meaning that anyone who appreciates the talent cannot) and in front of thousands of people who simply do not like such singing?

The national anthems before matches are special moments for players and fans to share and inspire each other with moments of patriotic unity. No one who belts out their national anthem cares about who sings it, or how well. It’s about the enjoyment and the feelings it evokes. Staged performances like Ms. Kavanaugh’s, filtered through sound systems that reduce her excellent voice to something more akin to a fighter jet struggling for control, completely neutralize those feelings for players and fans; one of the most important facets of enjoying international match days. Shouldn’t the day be meant for their enjoyment?

It should never be the lot of a singer to be so vilified for doing something they are good at and with the pride they put into it. So to those who are insulting Ms. Kavanaugh, point the keyboard back at the idiots who set her up.

And this is not the first time in this column: please stop taking away our competition songs.

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