It is sixteen years since Jonny Wilkinson kicked that famous drop goal in extra time that won England the Rugby World Cup for the first and only time in their history.
That England team, led by Martin Johnson and coached by Clive Woodward, had been widely regarded as the best in the world and the favourites to lift the trophy. They’d won three of the first four Six Nations tournaments, and earlier that year they’d completed the Grand Slam. Yet even a team as strong and dominant as that one was struggled under the immense pressure of the World Cup, and it took a moment of pure class from Wilkinson to settle a tense and edgy game in the final seconds.
That November night in Sydney in 2003 will seem a long way off when England kick off their 2019 World Cup campaign against Tonga in Sapporo on September 22 but England fans tuning in to watch the ITV coverage of this ninth edition of the World Cup will be hoping that the current side can rise to the level set by the heroes of 2007.
In truth, aside from that 2003 triumph, England’s World Cup record has been poor. They reached the final again in 2007 but were unimpressive along the way and were beaten 15-6 in the final by South Africa – who had earlier beaten them 36-0 in the Pool Stage. In 2011, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals and last time round, in 2015, they suffered an ignoble exit when they finished third in Pool A behind Wales and Australia.
In the wake of that disappointment, England turned to Eddie Jones, who has produced a definite resurgence. Under his guidance, England won the Six Nations in 2016 and 2017 and came close to a third title in 2018. During 2016, they won a series in Australia 3-0 and went on to become only the second team in rugby after New Zealand to win all of their games during a calendar year.
Despite a run of poor form in 2018, and a shock draw at Twickenham against Scotland in their final Six Nations game of 2019, bookmakers remain optimistic about England’s chances in Japan. They are generally rated as 11/2 second favourites for the tournament, just ahead of Wales and Ireland in the betting. And those odds are based largely on the World Cup experience of Eddie Jones, who guided Australia to that 2003 final, played a crucial role as advisor to the 2007 South African World Cup winning side, and helped Japan to win three Pool games at the 2015 edition.
Under Jones, although England have slipped up at times, they have also showed the ability to play the kind of physical yet progressive rugby that has rarely been seen by a Northern Hemisphere side, as demonstrated by their breath-taking display in the opening Six Nations game of 2019, in which they dismantled a formidable Irish team in Dublin. If they can return to that kind of form ahead of this year’s big tournament, there will be plenty of BigBetBookmakers regulars who will be happy to back the men in white to emulate their predecessors and claim the famous Webb Ellis Cup this year.
