England did have some clear winners in their otherwise beached Rugby World Cup campaign in the unlikely form of Lawrence Dallaglio, Martin Johnson and Jack Whitehall, principals in the dazzling Samsung Rugby School TV ads.
Superbly funny and brilliantly filmed, the ads take a chipper Whitehall through the finer points of rugby with, among others, Jason Robinson and a bulky, greying but still mighty scary Jason Leonard. You won’t see many things more fabulous than former England star Maggie Alphonsi chucking Whitehall about 20 yards backwards when he tries to tackle her. And Johnners, who knew? Such comic timing.
What are we going to do without them? It’s a pity that some of those guys, not to mention the mighty Maggie, weren’t ready to strap on their boots for England. As it is, this superb tournament — possibly the best World Cup in any sport, including cricket and football, in living memory — will, I think, go the way of the southern hemisphere rugby championship a few months back.
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