A NEW AGE & ANOTHER LEVEL

Since 2003 the heated debates in English rugby have raged around the same old themes and posed the same familiar questions.  Is the Super 12 champagne game a better brand of rugby than that found in the northern hemisphere where the stakes appear higher and thus the games more attritional? Is promotion and relegation the right way to run our premier league, attract long term investment and build the sport for the future?  When will England unleash the potential of their three quarters and deliver the complete performance we as fans crave?  All players and followers of rugby have a view and we are all are animated in expressing our heartfelt perspectives.

The joy of being an English rugby fan today is that almost all of us are united in one opinion ... the future is bright, very very bright for our boys in white.  The young talent coming through into the senior levels of the english game is quite simply awesome.  Watching the England Saxons (our 2nd XV) play this evening I am reminded by the commentator that the average age of the side is 23!  As I am sat here typing it is immediately apparent that the pace, flair and potential in the backline is mouth watering - Tom Varndell, he of 10.63 for a 100m in a pair of rugby boots, scores tries for fun (and there's his second of the evening!) - the creative genius of SUSO sponsored Ryan Lamb makes for compelling viewing - the vision and guile of Shane Geraghty (who looks to have turned this evenings game with one ghosting break) makes him a rare breed  - Matt Allen, Nick Abendanon, Delon Armitage ... the list goes on and on.  And this before we highlight the appetite for work from England's powerful young forwards, the engine room of the future - Hartley, Crane, Kennedy - hardmen getting harder by the day and game.  Lest we forget, all of this on top of tomorrow's senior XV offering up the equally young Luke Narraway (first cap), James Haskell, Toby Flood, David Strettle and the electric Danny Cipriani on the bench.  Can't wait for tomorrow, can't wait for 2011!  

Of course this overflow of talent in our game owes much to the success of the 2003 world cup winning side and the worthy showing of their successors in 2007.  Just as the Welsh legends of the 70s continue to attract and inspire a nation of young rugby fanatics today (we'll see just how good they are tomorrow!) Johno and his boys of 2003 have served up a source of motivation capable of carrying the nation to future glories.  For those of you that might have missed it - I offer another source of true rugby inspiration - the beauty of Sevens rugby when played by the very best in the world.  With the world biggest sevens tournament fast approaching, the Rosslyn Park National Schools Sevens next month (for which SUSO is proud to be a sponsor), look no further than the little Fijian genius for a real source of rugby heaven and inspiration.  Only now there are two of them - Serevi and his protege Ryder - two imaginative, creative, determined 7s rugby playing souls built in the image of each other.  This is another level of rugby indeed.