Rugby Union: Praises of the partial

A FEW weeks ago on Rugby Special someone was making gentle mock of the England supporters' rendition of 'God Save The Queen' before the French match at Twickenham, comparing it unfavourably to the Welsh crowd's performance of 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau'. The moral was supposed to be that, while the English might not be much good with their voices, they were certainly able to play rugby. Contrariwise, the Welsh might have retained their ability to sing, but they had unfortunately lost the knack of winning rugby matches.

This perfectly illustrates the perils of thinking by stereotype. In fact, in the last five years or so, the singing of the English national anthem at Twickenham has been superior to the singing of the Welsh national anthem at Cardiff. It has certainly been more enthusiastic, and no wonder. Wales have even had to bring in that fine and, in England, under- esteemed tenor Stuart Burrows to give a lead. Hard though he tries - it is not his fault - the band and the crowd are never quite synchronised with each other or with him.

The truth is that England have acquired supporters who are prepared to shout and even sing for their country. The improvement has come about partly through social changes in the game, partly through social changes in the country, but mainly through success. All the world loves a winner and, as Geoff Cooke keeps reminding us, England carry on winning.

The new England supporters are not, I must confess, wholly to my taste. I do not imagine that Dudley Wood invites many of them to dinner either. Their uniform consists of ski jacket, jeans and training shoes. They drink from lager tins on their way to and from the ground, and yell 'Swing low, sweet chariot' at Waterloo and intermediate stations.

A party of six will usually have one or two girls in tow, similarly attired. They are in their late teens or early twenties. Where they come from, or what they do for the rest of the week, I have no idea.

Since Ben Clarke has replaced Dean Richards, they have been deprived of their rallying cry of 'Deano, Deano'. But they are not narrow-minded, and are today more than ready to applaud Clarke when he embarks on one of his charging runs. They will also applaud Jonathan Webb's goal-kicks as soon as he has struck the ball, irrespective of whether there is any likelihood of its going over the bar or not. They will whistle kicks taken by the other side - formerly a speciality of Welsh and, more recently, Scottish, supporters, and the subject of countless moral lectures by Bill McLaren.

Their knowledge of the laws of the game has always been sketchy. On the evidence of the French match, they now have no understanding of the new change-of- possession law at ruck or maul, and continue to believe that the put-in should be awarded to the side going forward.

In practice, they believe England should always be given the ball at the scrum, regardless of whether they were going forward or not. For they are fiercely and unashamedly partisan. They believe in England. They are, I suppose, Margaret Thatcher's children.

From this, I would not wish the reader to suppose that the Welsh crowd on Saturday will consist of persons who are as grave as deacons, who understand the finer points of the game, who are (as they say in Brynamman) au courant with the new laws and will applaud good pieces of play from either side with equal impartiality. To find supporters like that, who do still exist, you have to travel further west, to St Helens in Swansea, or Stradey Park in Llanelli. The new Welsh supporters are much like the new English, only less so: more bedraggled, less self-confident and equally ignorant of the game.

Nevertheless, I think they will go away happy. Though I am always suspicious of commentators who claim to know about what goes on in the scrum, I believe the introduction of Ricky Evans and Nigel Meek has strengthened the Welsh front row. It is a pity that a place has not been found for Tony Clement - who, as he showed last Saturday, is a better all-round footballer than any of the present midfield triangle - but his successor, Mike Rayer, showed in his pre-Christmas outings that he could be a match- winner.

In their three previous matches England have shown signs of their old failing: of hesitating long before moving. After all, they must lose some time.