Given the flak he gets I'm suprised Woodward takes it so well. It's obviously an orchestrated attempt to unsettle him.
But don't take my word for it. It would appear that my piece was composed a day before two other giants of Sports Journalism had the same idea.
From Steve Howard in The Australian:
Trial by media: is that all you've got?
By Steven Howard
October 31, 2003
THE front page of The Australian's sports section carried a picture of Jonny Wilkinson after England's defeat of South Africa with the headline Is That All You've Got?
Well, no, actually. We've got Wordsworth, Coleridge, Orwell, Milton, Austen, Byron, Tennyson, Hardy, Keats, Dickens and Lawrence. And that's just the back row.
And what have the Aussies got when it comes to epic poems and great works of literature? Campo's Bonzer Book of Rugby.
This, though, is a gratuitous insult. Just as it would be to repeat the tale of the tourist who, arriving at Oz immigration, was asked whether he had a criminal record and replied: "Why - is it compulsory?" Yet this is the sort of barb England's battered rugby team have had to endure on an almost daily basis since their arrival in the land of the didgeridoo.
But then an even greater sport than sport itself is the ritual slaughtering of the old toffee-nosed Pom, in print or on the field of play.
It does have its rib-tickling moments. Even we chuckled when the Aussie soccer team thrashed us 3-1 at Upton Park, the score we normally see in an Ashes series. It was either that or mass suicide.
And, yes, you could understand the laughter over England's struggle against Samoa as Clive Woodward's over-confident favourites looked as uncomfortable as any listener to a Jason Donovan recording.
But we can take it. Just as we took the questioning of England's technique in the rolling maul by former Oz skipper John Eales while our heroes were shaking off their jet lag.
Just as we accepted Campo's querying of Wilkinson's ability as a mere continuation of the fabulous game of throwing another Pom on the barbie.
And they are at it again with a full-scale investigation into the fact England had 16 players on the pitch against Samoa. For all of six seconds.
Had this happened to Samoa, nothing would have been said. There would have been incredulity that Samoa thought they needed an extra player when the original 15 looked quite capable of winning on their own.
But since it's the old Pom, this is big news. Almost as big as when Shane Warne was thrown out of the last cricket World Cup for taking a banned substance.
Or when Aussie goalkeeper Mark Bosnich was banned for failing a dope test.
Or when Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh admitted to betting on their own side to lose the famous Headingley Test against England.
But having 16 players on the pitch for six seconds - strewth, send for Crocodile Dundee and his outsize machete.
Or maybe it's just a cunning ploy on behalf of the Aussie media to see if the IRB can dock Woodward's side points and send them into a quarter-final against New Zealand rather than Wales.
Whatever, it's always good to see the arrogant English develop a bead of sweat or two on that stiff upper lip. Not that these Aussies are into stereotyping. Just as JP (sic) O'Rourke wasn't when he described Australians as violently loud roughnecks whose idea of fun is to throw up in your car.
But let's go back to Wilkinson and that headline. England beat South Africa, one of the top four sides in the world, by a margin of 19 points. Australia beat Argentina, not one of the top four sides in the world, by a margin of 16 points, 14 from Elton Flatley.
I cannot recall pictures of Flatley appearing under the headline Is That All You've Got? or, indeed, Is That All We've Got?
And if Wilkinson is only a goalkicker, what about former Wallabies skipper Michael Lynagh?
As for England grinding through on the back of a big defensive game, isn't that exactly what Australia did at the last World Cup? In fact, they conceded just one try to the US (though we shouldn't laugh).
Anyway, back to the present. Australia, having edged Namibia 142-0, face Ireland in their final pool game tomorrow night.
I, naturally, will remain impartial as I sit in front of the box, in emerald green jersey, singing Danny Boy to the smooth accompaniment of several pints of Guinness hitting the back of the throat.
The Australian
Come on you Paddys!!
[ 10-31-2003, 05:39 AM: Message edited by: Donut ]