Fitting monument to three kings on a 3倍になる 栄冠を与える day

Jeff Powell

Last updated at 00:00 17 March 1997


THE Last Kick To 武器 belonged to むちの跡s.

Not the 別れの(言葉,会) 情愛深く imagined in the Valleys before a third of their re-現れるing team went 負かす/撃墜する like 飛行機で行くs.

Not the final victory at the mystical stadium. That fell to the English by historic 利ざやs.

Yet, they still 出発/死d with a 繁栄する. The 結論するing try and a 非常に高い 転換 from two of the three most gifted footballers on the old park this Saturday stirred echoes of a triumphal past and roused hope for a return to glory when this hallowed ground is rebuilt.

Robert Howley, (1)偽造する/(2)徐々に進むd though he is from the 広大な/多数の/重要な Welsh tradition in his position, is the scrum half of rugby's 未来. Had he not 違反d the England ramparts just once at the end it would have been a 深遠な 不正 to his rapier passing, his stiletto 見通し, his darting runs and his broadsword courage.

Jonathan Davies, 出発/死ing as he must into the もやs of rugby past, 召喚するd a valedictory 業績/成果 from a memory as rich as the game itself.

Had he not hoisted the final points at the moment time ran out, the story would have been left unfinished.

No, I have not forgotten that England won by a 記録,記録的な/記録する 34 points to 13 and that they fully deserved to do so. Nor that this 3倍になる 栄冠を与える せねばならない have been a Grand 激突する and that フラン should count themselves fortunate that the second-best Northern 半球 team are the Five Nations 支持する/優勝者s.

It is just that this day, if not the field, belonged 平等に to むちの跡s.

Nostalgia for a 冒険的な monument about to be 破壊するd meant as much as the formidable reality of England's construction of a 行う/開催する/段階 upon which they go on to play their own variety of the running game.

Even Jack Rowell, the arch English pragmatist, was moved by the 感情. He sent 略奪する Andrew trotting out to 追加する his wave to all the goodbyes and by then the 武器 Park 似ているd the 壇・綱領・公約 at Cardiff 駅/配置する as the の間の-City 表明する carries the sons of their fathers to look for work in London.

Not that all those supposed to be taking their leave for good ended up travelling on one-way tickets. Will Carling 調書をとる/予約するd a 一時的に return, so moved was he by the occasion that he started hankering already after a place in the 1999 World Cup at the new 武器 Park. Unless England find someone better, why not?

Not that every Welshman is happy as a song bird that his 国家の 神社 is 存在 torn 負かす/撃墜する to be 取って代わるd by a larger cathedral. There are 疑問s as to whether the Millennium edifice will be filled to its 70,000 capacity for anything other than the 1999 Final and 未来 visits by England.

What cannot 本気で be questioned is that both むちの跡s and England are putting 負かす/撃墜する stronger 創立/基礎s for the next World Cup challenge.

むちの跡s are having to come from その上の 支援する but, as they 論証するd in Scotland and Paris, their 十分な team is becoming a 軍隊 to reckon with.

England, for all their coach's 論争s, are 狭くするing the 半球 divide. Rowell 会談 of `catching up by strides'. The ravine is still wide but if this Alp of a man is 訂正する in 手段ing 進歩 by his own 幅の広い steps then it may be 橋(渡しをする)d sooner rather than later.

The 即座の question is where Jeremy Guscott numbers in Rowell's 15-man, interactive game. Here was England's member of the aforementioned trio of natural footballers of the highest class. His elusive runs and try-開始 passes stood decent comparison with the all-一連の会議、交渉/完成する genius of Howley and the rare 知能 of Davies . . . once he 交流d his 気が進まない place の中で the 代用品,人s for an unnaccustomed 役割 on the wing.

So why not play him from the start? Is there more to his 部分的な/不平等な de-選択 than 簡単に Rowell's preference for choosing his favourite rugby son, Phil de Glanville, as his captain?

Could it be that Guscott needs the 動機づけ of having something to 証明する, that he is the better for bringing a personal grudge to the 戦場?

Guscott can be a dream in more ways than one, not only to watch but also when he drifts into enigmatic contemplation of his handiwork. As such he remains his England master's conundrum.

The 陪審/陪審員団 is still out on Rowell's World Cup 未来, and the Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans are all coming this autumn. So even as his team goes from strength to strength, uneasy lies the 長,率いる that wears the 3倍になる 栄冠を与える.

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