2007 World Cup run gives Jason Robinson ‘hope’ for England in 2023 : PlanetRugby

Former England star Jason Robinson has urged Steve Borthwick’s team to take inspiration from the 2007 Rugby World Cup runners-up rather than the triumphant vintage of 2003.

England head to France 2023 as outside bets to win the William Webb Ellis Cup, with France, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand tipped to become champions.

Borthwick replaced Eddie Jones as England‘s head coach ahead of the 2023 Six Nations, with the new boss winning only two matches in that tournament, but Robinson recalls the 2007 World Cup as an example of how quickly a team’s fortunes can be reversed.

‘England are in the mix’

“The reality is that England have got a better group than most, and they’ve got to top it. And then when you get into the knockout stage, it’s anybody’s,” Robinson told the PA news agency.

“I don’t think there has ever been a World Cup where there are so many teams in contention, and I would say England are in the mix, but they are going to have to build some form.

“I would never have said we’d get to the final in 2007 with the form that we had in the lead up to it, not a chance. We were playing crap.

“We limped through the pool stages in 2007, getting beaten 36-0 by South Africa. I pulled my hamstring in that game. It was a real slap in the face for us.

“While we didn’t have form in the team, we still had some good players. The defeat against South Africa was the shock we needed.

“We got through the pool, and then we found some form against Australia in the quarters. We beat France, who were hosts, and suddenly we were in the final. We could have won that, too, had Mark Cueto (who had a try controversially disallowed after it was ruled his left foot had made contact with the touchline) not had six toes!

“What happened to us in 2007 gives hope. It can be done – in sport; you can turn things around in a very short space of time.

“Sometimes you get written off, and you’ve got to take that on the chin and try to find a way to win.

“This England team have got some great players, but they’ve got to find form and also find the way they want to play.”

England’s greatest performance

Robinson started in both the 2003 and 2007 Rugby World Cup finals for England, but he sees the semi-final victory over New Zealand in 2019 as the finest single performance.

Jones’ England team flattened the All Blacks 19-7 on a dramatic night in Yokohama to reach the final, where they were ultimately beaten 32-12 by South Africa.

“While we won the World Cup in 2003, England’s game against New Zealand in 2019 is the best I’ve ever seen an England team play. That’s the standout England game for me,” Robinson said.

“I was blown away by how England approached the game. I’ve never seen New Zealand dominated like that before.

“We mixed up our game so well. We were physical, we played smart, we played around them, we played through them. When I watched it, I thought, ‘wow’.”

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