Today saw England play their last game of the Autumn International series and as the players return back to their clubs ready for the next round of European games, much will have been learnt from their time away in the England setup.
The players themselves, many who are young and inexperienced, will have learnt exactly what it takes to cut it on the big stage, to play with the big boys. They have experienced the ferocity of the southern hemisphere teams, the atmosphere of 80,000 plus crowds, the attention from the media. The learning curve has been great, and although 3 out of 4 results went the wrong way, the players will be able to return to their clubs stronger for the experience.
The England forwards have received a lot of criticism over the Autumn series and today's game against New Zealand hasn't helped them much with 3 yellow cards being dished out to members of the pack. I've not yet seen the replay to tell if the actions of Mears, Haskell and Rees merited their yellow cards. When the Sunday papers are published in the morning they will no doubt be full of reports on the multiple sin-binnings, but I hope this doesn't detract the rugby journalists from the bigger picture.
James Haskell and Tom Rees for example, first broke into the England squad during the 2007 6 Nations and since then have become Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership champions. Their solid performances last season won them starting places on the summer tour to New Zealand and they were among the few players to return home with their credibility still intact.
Tom Rees has been one of England's best players of this Autumn series and as a result has a good chance of starting on the openside during the 2009 6 Nations. His form this season has also been good for Wasps despite the team's overall poor performances. A player of Rees' skill and temperament is already receiving calls to be made captain for both his club and country. He has all the characteristics that a good captain should have: skillful, in-form, temperament, power, and he commands respect from his peers. I will say that Rees will be favourite to take over the Wasps captaincy for the 09/10 season (assuming he re-signs).
Rees' club colleague Danny Cipriani has come in for a lot of attention over the past month following his remarkable recovery from the career-threatening injury he sustained during last season's Premiership semi-final against Bath. His form over the series has been questionable, but how anyone can expect anymore from him at this stage is even more questionable. Danny is an outrageously talented player who has a huge passion and desire to reach his full potential. He has only played 7 games since returning and in these games he has shown glimpses of why people were getting so excited about his prospect. Forget all of the off-field hype and photos of him with his celebrity girlfriend, Danny is 100% focused on his rugby and will be itching to get back to Wasps to start rebuilding himself to where he was back in May. His main focus will be in helping his club progress in the Heineken Cup and to pull themselves further away from the relegation threat in the Premiership. Putting in consistent performances in these games should see Danny ready to show the England Rugby fans why he should be their new 'darling' again.
Keep faith in this group of players. Between the Elite Players Squad and the England Saxons, we are faced with the prospect of the most exciting and free-flowing rugby we have ever seen from an England side. Imagine what danger the breaks from Cipriani, attacks from Abendanon, steps from Simpson-Daniel and turnovers from Rees can cause in the future when the team have settled and gelled.
I for one will be sticking with this group of players through thick and thin. Change takes time, and I'm prepared to wait.
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