A Poor show by England

[jimswin]

Nothing that has not happened to all the teams before

it is merely the selection of the right combination,

demands are far greater on the players now than it used to be.

.....I do not think the commitment that existed at an amateur level exists today.

I agree , it has happened to other teams before and will carry on in the future too.

selection of the right combination
This is the crux of the matter, this iMHO is where the make or break seems to be.

I agree about the demands, I think the players bodies can only put up with so much abuse ( despite the super fitness levels today), and then also the mental side of things too. How to keep players motivated.

Your point about the commitment reminds me of a recent discussion about amateur Vs Professional. We concluded that the amateur era seemed more intense.

One has to look at the last Amateur Brisitsh Lions teams as an example. I refer to the JJ Williams, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Fran Cotton etc in the UK teams.