Journeys have been the main topic of conversation this week, the journeys teams have made to the World Cup, the journeys spectators hope to make away from it – and, not least, the journeys that have brought certain England players to this point, on the verge of playing in the biggest tournament of their lives, in front of their home fans.
It is a particularly poignant subject for the hosts, whose 31-man squad rank as only 13th out of 20 when it comes to number of caps won, just behind Uruguay. New Zealand, at No1, have nearly twice the number.
Jonathan Joseph perhaps best epitomises English hopes at the tournament – a richly talented fixture in the side these days but, it is easy to forget, a mere 13 caps into his international career. This time a year ago, he was peripheral.
“I don’t think about it massively,” he says of his rapid progress. “It’s not that I’m not grateful for it but I try to really focus on the future. It’s not about what’s been or could have been.”
Nevertheless, erase from history his performances in this year’s Six Nations, and confidence in England’s midfield for this World Cup would be at crisis levels. Joseph has long been seen as a potential star but it was not until Manu Tuilagi’s continuing absence coincided with his own overcoming of injury problems that he was finally given a proper chance to excel. His Six Nations was a personal triumph.
“I remember going into the Wales game [England’s Six Nations opener in Cardiff in February] and thinking, right, this is your last chance. If you don’t do well now you might not be back. I’m definitely more confident now. I feel like I’m growing as a player and getting better. If I keep doing that, hopefully I can stick around for a while, which is what I’d love to do.”
Joe Marler, at 25, is less than a year older than Joseph but when England open their World Cup against Fiji on Friday, he will be among a pack of reasonable experience, most of them in the 20s and 30s, cap-wise. He, too, tries to put out of mind how far he has come in so short an amount of time. “It would scare me to think about that. I just try to get on with it now. When I’m old and decrepit and can’t move, I’ll look back and think: ‘Christ, that flew by; that was a good laugh.’ If I think about it too much I’ll get: ‘You’re making me think about it now and it’s doing my head in …’”
The least experienced of England’s squad for the Fiji game is Sam Burgess, on the bench with only the two caps. Joseph is full of praise for the development of his Bath team-mate in so short a space of time. “He’s done fantastically well to have switched codes and had less than a whole season of club rugby. It’s credit to him, his character, his presence – everything about the guy. You believe him when he talks in meetings and on the pitch. He gets it, and it’s great to have him around.”
England are the bookmakers’ second favourites to win the World Cup. If they are to succeed in that mission, they must defy history by making youth and home comforts tell more than gnarled experience. Their hopeful journey to that end begins on Friday.
