Things are very different for England under Eddie Jones. Gone is the quiet humble approach from Lancaster, and statements like "England are the most hated team in rugby", and jibes at Ireland's style of play now seem par for the course.
It's certainly exciting, and Ireland tend to do better against sides that attempt to antagonise them (see Wales, any time that Gatland opens his mouth).
But now the Telegraph have made an assertion that had really grinds our gears. Declaring that Ireland aren't the team/country that hates the English the most is bad, saying that we're not even in the top three is infuriating.
Fourth. Our usual position in any Olympic event, but we would always have thought that we'd be no. one, or at the very least no. two after the Scots.
The Telegraph haven't even picked Scotland as their top team either - that honour goes to the Welsh. The Welsh? Isn't Stephen Jones Welsh? The same Welsh that having been pushing to join the English clubs in the Premiership?
Apparently the reasons for the Telegraph plucking for the Welsh include the Stereophonics song 'As Long As We Beat the English'; and former Welsh captain team-mate said in a team-talk ahead of playing England in the 70's:
They've taken our coal, our water, our steel. They buy our houses and live in them for a fortnight every 12 months. And what have they given us? Absolutely nothing. We've been exploited, raped, controlled and punished by the English - and we're playing them this afternoon.
Sounds a whole lot worse than 800 years.
The top nine for the Telegraph's "Who hates England the most?"
- Wales
- Scotland
- Australia?
- Ireland
- France
- New Zealand
- Argentina
- South Africa
- Italy
We'll just left this here:
See Also: An Irish Rugby Fans' Most Hated England XV Of The Professional Era
See Also: The Surprisingly Challenging Least Hated England XV
Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
