ORLY??
<div class='quotemain'> surely you need to have a half decent backline before you can be given such an accolade. [/b]
No, you implied they're not even half decent.
And that 2003 side would have beaten any other team in history? Why? Fitness, skills, intensity and technology were all better then back in the ametuer days. That side would have overwhelmed Wales of the 70's or the AB's of the 80's (should such a match be possable).
In the nicest possable way (being there's bound to some South African who takes this the wrong way), if it were possible to play in a micro tournament;
The '95 Boks,
The '99 Wallabies,
The '02 England,
The '05 All Blacks
The '07 Boks
England would come out on top.The pack was far more destructive then any other side, in Johnson they had best leader in the business, the backs had the tight combination of power (Lewsey and Tindall), creativity (Greenwood) and Pace (Robinson and Cohen) to happily counter attack from anywhere on the field, and with Wilkinsons ability to slot 80-85% back then, the mouth of Dawson (who since Gareth Edwards was the best half back ever) would win so many penalties to finish the other sides off.
None of the games would be whitewashes by any mean, but England were the best of the lot.
It upsets so many to say a Northern Hemisphere side could even consider themselves as the best, but when world rugby was at it's height, England were the creme of the crop.
It's just a damn shame rugby itself has gone downhill since 2003, England by far more so then any other side.
[/b][/quote]
As you highlighted what i said,
backline. I know its easy to look back with slightly rose tinted spectacles but England were outscored in tries by Wales 3-1,France 1-0 and it was 1-1 with Australia in the 03 world cup. Surely there have been plenty of better backlines over the years.
What do you mean world rugby was at its height? the current Australian and All Blacks especially are far better than the team they fielded in 03.
Anyway i dont want to act like a troll. England deserved to win the world cup but in my opinion they are definetely not the greatest ever side. The Aussies of 99, the All Blacks of 05,95 are just some of the superior teams that spring to my mind.