Mea culpa time. In a spirit of mischief, and in the interests of injecting a bit of a spice into a lacklustre pre-match build-up, we (internally) proclaimed the first week of February 'National Troll Wales' week and asked whether the Welsh rugby team were now more despised in this country than England. The message came back that they weren't.
It transpires they have a long way to go to catch up with Chris Ashton and co. The English have a gift for producing snarling pantomime villains. Born to rule god monsters who are wont to stand over you shouting 'Welcome to the House of Pain!!' after a scrum goes down.
Once more, the winsome Mr. Mike Brown is currently making the headlines for none of the right reasons. In that light, here are the most disliked English rugby players in the history of Irish sports fandom.
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Danny Cipriani
As with Gavin Henson, opposition rugby fans see him as the epitome of pretty-boy vacuity. Flash and lacking in moral fibre. Cipriani's professional career hasn't left them examining their prejudices.
His only start in the Six Nations and his sole good game for England came against a jaded and depressed Ireland side in Eddie O'Sullivan's last game as coach.
He said the word 'fuck' in a post-match interview with the BBC and was heralded as the future of English rugby. He hasn't started a Six Nations game since.
Will Carling
Rather confusingly, what the rest of the world knows as 'private fee-paying schools' are referred to in England as 'public schools'.
Growing up, I wasn't aware of the differences in terminology between England and this country. I recall reading an article in an English newspaper which argued that Carling was often derided by modish, self-consciously fashionable columnists because of his 'public school background'.
This left me pondering two things. 1.) How, given his relatively impoverished background, had Carling managed to acquire such a plummy accent? And 2.) It left me stunned that such naked class snobbery was so prevalent among left-leaning commentators in the UK press.
It was only later I realised it was reverse snobbery.
Carling was disdained thanks to his role as the public face of the triumphant England team who used to pulverise Ireland in the late 80s and early 90s - with the spectacular exceptions of 1993 and 1994.
Mike Brown
Whereas Austin Healey always appeared to be 'hamming it up' a bit in his role as bete noire of the Celtic Fringe, Brown gives off entirely different vibes. No cheeky chappie pantomime villain is he.
Brown is a snarler who makes little attempt to conceal his sourness when things go awry. While one might make allowances for the fact that it was an agonising second runner-up spot in a row for England, his reaction to Ireland's triumph last year was notably graceless. With Mathieu Basteraud levels of subtlety, he praised the French for their display on the final weekend, 'compared to a few other countries'.
He plays with the annoyance of someone who's read plenty of literature chastising the English and wants to shove it up the noses of the Queen's enemies.
Chris Ashton
Not playing in this year's Six Nations having been cited for gouging Luke Marshall in a Saracens-Ulster game last month. Ashton is disliked by opposing fans principally for the swallow-diving.
Rugby has deemed such behaviour conduct unbecoming. Don't make Nigel Owens have to come out with his catchphrase again.
Austin Healey
He appears to enjoy tweaking the noses of those in the Celtic Fringe so much that we're inclined to believe he's hamming it up. The role of the cocky Englishman is one he relishes. Last week, he spoke about the beneficial impact of Eddie Jones's arrogance.
In truth, this has been directed more often towards Wales than Ireland. He was more annoyed than most Irish people by the team selection for the third test in the 2013 Lions tour.
On the after-dinner circuit, he is known as the guy who was bashed around the place by Brian O'Driscoll on the 2001 Lions Tour.
Martin Johnson
Included solely for his indifference to Mary McAleese's footwear - a display which seemed to annoy some people. Johnson later said that had the referee come over and gently told them to shift along, they would have moved no problem.
However, when the goon with the earpiece marched over and barked at them to shift over, it got Johnson's dander up. By then, he couldn't lose face.
I wouldn’t have thought anything about it (Had Kaplan . But this guy came out of nowhere to move us (and) it felt like it was just some random guy and I just said, ‘Don’t tell us to do anything, pal’. And then, BANG, it was just such a huge stand-off and I had that thought in my head: what have we got ourselves into now?
Presiding over three successive losses to Ireland in the Six Nations may have softened the public towards Johnno.
Neil Back
Like Johnson, his villainy rests on a solitary incident. There's no need to go into the details again. Interestingly, the gruff and commonsensical Peter Clohessy is disinclined to join in the vilification.
He said that had a Munster man done the same, they'd be hailing him as a hero and conceded that, in any event, Leicester were the better team in 2002.
Dylan Hartley
Like most of his comrades here, his unpopularity stretches well beyond this island. In the field of racking up suspensions, his versatility has been truly impressive.
Thus far, Hartley has been banned for gouging, biting, punching, elbowing, headbutting and calling the referee 'a fuckin cheat'.
Stephen Ferris's finger played a part in his eight-week suspension for biting in 2012.
Delon Armitage
He missed the 2011 Six Nations for pushing and verbally abusing a drug tester. He was offended after the tester had the temerity to ask him to piss in a cup.
His jeering celebration as he ran over for a try in the 2013 Heineken Cup final was aggravating.
Honorable mentions...
Alex Corbisiero
Props usually enjoy greater anonymity than those in other positions, meaning Corbisiero doesn't enjoy the pantomime villain status his mouth deserves.
Stephen Ferris spoke to us on The Racket last Friday about what it's like to play at Twickenham when the crowd start blasting out their favourite African-American spiritual.
When he thinks of the 2012 game, it's the puffed up snarling of exultant prop Alex Corbisiero that comes to mind.
I remember I was lying at the bottom of a ruck. And Alex Corbisiero was standing over the top of me and he said 'welcome to the House of Pain!'
And I was lying on the ground and I said, 'what an absolute twat this fella is like!'
And I remember just sitting there, thinking, 'please, let us come back and win this game.' And we didn't win the game. And it was a house of pain at the end.
That kind of comment. It made me laugh. You know, 'welcome to the house of pain'. What's that about, like? He's not a WWE wrestler, you know what I mean. Even though he probably thinks he is.
He's off now taking his break from rugby but hopefully he comes back. He's an unbelievable player and a great asset to English rugby. He's had his injury woes as well but, yeah, those stupid comments, you just kinda brush them off and have to get on with it. It makes you feel inside like, 'I really want to beat those guys', just so you as afterwards you can shake his hands and say, 'the house of pain was great, we'll see you next year!'
