and they say it's only a game!

If there is a competition that highlights time and again that the divide between success and failure in sport can be beyond negligible, it is Australia’s premier rugby league competition the NRL. With time up in this year’s grand final the Cowboys of North Queensland trailed the Brisbane Broncos by 4 points, for the Broncos it was a case of one more tackle and they would be premiers. However, the Cowboys bundled up all the clichés as they threw caution to the wind, rolled the dice and held nothing back to produce the impossible to score in the corner. With the board locked at 16 each, Jonathan Thurston stepped up to win the game for his beloved Cowboys. As the kick homed in on the posts and drew back in classic Thurston fashion, the North Queensland talisman raised his arm in the air believing his kick was about to creep inside the sticks only to see it collide with the near upright. As it materialised, JT would get another opportunity, and this time he was on the money as he nudged a one pointer in extra time that sent the Cowboys into delirium and left the Broncos slumped in a trough of despair, pondering what nearly was, what could have been, what should have been.

Tenuous link I know, but rewind a year and it was SamBurgess who was being carted across the field of Sydney’s Olympic stadium by his Rabbitohs team mates after he had inspired South Sydney to glory, broken face and all. This morning, Burgess would not have been alone at Pennyhill Park, the base of the English Rugby Union side, pondering the margins that have left England unable to qualify for the Rugby World Cup quarter final with one round of pool matches still to play. The 10 point lead relinquished a week prior against Wales, the opportunity to take a shot at goal that would have earnt them a draw, which would in turn have kept the chariots in the driving seat for qualification going into the final weekend. Had England possessed the accuracy and clarity of thought required in these high pressure situations then the intense scrutiny that has been thrust on the credibility and futures of Lancaster and Robshaw today would have been a non-discussion. England could have gone onto a home quarter final and as they proved in 2007, anything can happen come the knockout stages. But for that 3 point margin, a large proportion of Welsh fans would have been less busy creating provocative memes and more concerned about if and how Wales could manufacture a tournament saving victory, against a classy looking Wallaby outfit next weekend.  

As small as the margin can be in the heat of battle, the divide between those that are successful and those that fall short, on the biggest stage, is eternal. Had Thurston called time on his career, having not guided the Cowboys to a Premiership, the agonising trajectory of that last minute conversion would have been an unwanted regular on the bad times playlist in JT’s brain.  As for Lancaster, he has earnt the right to have his future determined by a proper process and not the knee jerk reaction called for by the fickle type who walked from HQ with five minutes remaining of last night’s match. Whether he is retained or deemed surplus to requirements, Lancaster will forever have to answer external and internal questions around team selection, that decision to go for the corner and his policy of ignoring the talent that operates outside of the Aviva Premiership. If not afforded further opportunity with England, Lancaster will have to go some to rid himself of the reputation as the first coach of the RWC host nation to drop out in the pool stage. All that because of a three point ball game.