Cooke tunes up his highly-strung band
pe...@waikato.ac.nz
[interesting article deleted]
> Two Grand Slams, a World Cup Final and every major rugby-playing nation sent
> packing at one point or another during his reign says it all.
I may be wrong but when has England beaten Australia when Cooke was Manager?
Paul
That would be enough for most men, but when Cooke steps
> down after the 1995 World Cup, he hopes that "England will be spoken of in the
> same awe as New Zealand."
>
> After each success, the sights get raised just that little bit higher.He
> has got the bandwagon rolling, but he is after a dynasty. Cooke gets results
> because he is able to combine an intellectual approach to management, with an
> understanding of the nature of the international rugby beast. "International
> sports people are inherently selfish," he said. "They are all playing for
> themselves and they only tolerate their team-mates because of what they can do
> for them. Thats a simplistic way of putting it, but its essentially right."
>
> Knowing what makes them tick is one thing, making them perform quite anot
> another. "I'd like to think I dont have one particular management style," he sa
> said."I hope I would change my style depending on the circumstances and the
> people I'm dealing with. Youve got to be able to switch from the director-style
> of managment, where you tell people this is what we're going to do and this is
> the way I want it done, to a delegation-style of management where you recognise
> the abilities of people to do things and let them get on with it."
> His preferred way of working, the one closest to his personality, is to
> consult, to take soundings, and he acknowledges that he is hopeless at "all that
> shouting, ranting and raving." When the squad first met for training, Cooke[Deet for training, Cooke
> fronts the sessions, but as kick-off nears he recedes into the background, the responsi
> responsibility shifting to the senior players. They make the decisions in the gamr
> game, so Cooke reasons that they ought to do so in the final run-out before the
> match. His detractors say that he is too close to his players
> and he admits " it can be a weakness to care too much about the people," but he
> is no lap-dog and he loves nothing more than to prick the bubble of complacency.
> I once turned up for training for an international, head swollen with
> satisfaction at what I thought was a pretty good performance in the last match.
> The stats said it had gone well, the reviews were favourable, life was okay.
> Cookee sidled up to me in training and said out line-out was too predictable,
> too orthodox. There wasnt enough movement. What did he know, I thought? It had
> worked last time out and anyway his job was to look after the pretty boys in the
> backs, not interfere with the forwards. But he was right, damn him.
> Whether he is right with his predictions for England in the Five Nations
> remains to be seen, but surprisingly, he is not too gung-ho about the prospects.
> "Idealistically four wins, realistically three," he said. "I think France will
> be very difficult this year. I think we're capable of winning but I'll be
> interested how they respond this time." Cooke fooled the world and his brother
> when he underplayed England before the encounter with the All Blacks, but the
> French match is far too ahead to indulge in any kidology. There is genuine
> concern, principally because England have failed to score a try heir in their last
> two games and have not managed a try away from home for two years. That is not a
> as bad as it sounds, because it only amounts to one season, but it is still
> decidedly unpalatable.
>
> Cooke puts it down to an inability to come to terms to the new laws, not
> taking the chances on offer and the excellence of cover-defences. "We've got to gho
> get that feeling back against Scotland. That we can open up defences and score
> tries."
> Less than a week away, the Scotland match is centre-stage. As a reminder
> of what to expect, Will Carling suggested to Cooke that they dig out the video
> of the 1990 match when England were embarrassed by a rampant Scotland. Cooke
> wasnt so sure. It would be relevant to the men who played and still carry the
> scars, but most of the new crop of players are untainted by defeat. Martin
> Johnson, Tim Rodber, Victor Ubogu have all yet to end up on the losing side. The
> tape will mean nothing to them. At the moment international rugby is a doddle
> for these guys. Turn up, beat France or New Zealand, have a few beers in the bar afterwardar
> afterwards and order a few papers for the following morning. No problem.
> But Cooke knows that England will inevitably struggle at some point and
> that is when we will be able to gauge their true potential. Whatever happens
> this season, Cooke does have one regret. "I wish I hadnt argued with my mother
> when she wanted to send me to piano lessons," he said. He envies artists and
> musicians more than anything: "people who can capture a mood or a character."
> Maybe that is why he puts so much of his soul into the job. Conducting England
> is as near as he will ever get.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Chris
christopher egerton
>In article christopher egerton <cege...@silver.ucs.indiana.edu> writes:
>
>[interesting article deleted]
>
>> Two Grand Slams, a World Cup Final and every major rugby-playing nation sent
>> packing at one point or another during his reign says it all.
>
>I may be wrong but when has England beaten Australia when Cooke was Manager?
>
>Paul
>
>
was Carling's first game in charge, and came off a very bad tour of
Australia. Score anyone? Am I right in thinking that England, as opposed
to the Lions, have never won in Australia?
Chris
--
Once more unto the breach dear friends...
ONCE MORE!! OR CLOSE THE WALL UP WITH OUR ENGLISH DEAD!!
christopher egerton
by Paul Ackford, Daily Telegraph
Geoff Cooke speaks at many dinners. As manager of the England rugby
team, it goes with the territory. One of his opening gambits, after he has been
introduced and the applause has died down, is to say; "I'd rather be clapped in
than clapped out." As another Five Nations campaign looms large, Cooke shows
no signs of battle fatigue, partly because there are new faces to work with and
partly because he is still intoxicated by big-time rugby. "Watching Jerry
(Guscott) run, watching Rory (Underwood) run; that gets to me more than anything
else. I love the intensity of the conflict and the power struggle going on out
there. I get a terrific buzz out of that...the French games in Paris...brutality
, flair, panache. Terrific."
Cooke has got a lot out of his involvement with the national side, but h
he has also paid his dues, having dragged English rugby kicking and screaming
out of the mire of mediocrity. Two Grand Slams, a World Cup Final and every
major rugby-playing nation sent packing at one point or another during his
reign says it all. That would be enough for most men, but when Cooke steps