How can England claim Rugby League World Cup 2013 glory? - Featured
England is all set to claim Rugby League World Cup (RWC) 2013 triumph after their close miss at the Four Nations 2011 title at the hands of the Australians at Leeds. Their game had improved significantly down the length of the series but they were not good
enough to beat the series’ favourites, Kangaroos.
Now that they have lost their chance of finishing Four Nations 2011 on a high note, which will not be next played until 2014, they have decided to undo the mistakes which cost them pretty heavily during the series against the obvious strength of the Aussies.
Therefore, England has chosen to continue playing at the international level during 2012 to help them better their game.
Against expectations, England did not match up to the soaring calibre of Australia in the Four Nations title decider. This notion had been endorsed by English coach, Steve McNamara, too. Their last performance was overall very sloppy with no resistance at
all. Especially, the second half of the game was extremely disappointing as the Australians had embarked on the scoring spree until they clinched victory at a monstrous margin of 30-8.
Otherwise, England had improved on their on-field performance but their display of skills during the final clash, narrated a different story. Their poor performance in Four Nations was devastating for them but it benefitted them in disguise. With their defeat,
they have realised that they still are not strong enough to walk out victorious against Roos’ strength.
There is no denying the fact that down the length of the series, English side had registered improvement but their final showdown was not up to the mark. They not only failed in scoring tries for their side, but also they could not defend their side of field
against the skilled attacking of the opposition. Australian side was too strong and their defence could not be crumbled easily, which was apparent from the difference of scores between either sides.
However, the English coach had also agreed that his side had undeniably improved on their game which pushed them to build up on the improvement by continuing playing until RWC which is scheduled to take place during the tail end of 2013.
For that matter, England is looking forward to play the 2012 international level games which will help them improve their game. I believe England’s strategy to continue playing until 2013 is the right way to go about it, as there are many ways in which English
side can benefit from it.
The first and foremost advantage of this strategy is that through continuous practice they will be able to rule out their weaknesses and build up further on their strong points. Once their pluses and negatives are identified, there will be plenty of time
to cement them strongly into their game ahead of RWC 2013, which is still two years away.
Secondly, by playing continuously many players will be given chances to display their on-field brilliance, which will surface the hidden talents of so many players, who otherwise were never given enough opportunity to exhibit their true potential.
There is another advantage of playing the international level games until 2012, which will be subtle yet very impactful for the English side. The games ahead of World Cup are very crucial as all players will be motivated to play in order to convince their
coach of their selection for the RWC finalised squad. This means that there is not just one set of 17-man squad in the making but given a lot of time at hand, there will be at least two to three reserve squads prepared which in my view point is the strongest
incentive of going for the opted route to RWC 2013.
The opinion expressed in this article is of the writer and is not the editorial policy of Bettor.com
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