England have been voted as the most hated nation in the world rugby.
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In the replies to the poll, Wales and Ireland were also mentioned frequently by fans of rival teams but didn’t make the top five.
England supporters are unlikely to be too bothered about their lack of popularity with other fans as that’s the way it has always been since the sport was invented.
Most hated country in rugby (Top 5)
- #5. Australia 5%
- #4. France – 8%
- #3. New Zealand – 15%
- #2. South Africa – 19%
- #1. England – 53%
Ireland, Scotland and Wales in particularly love to hate England, be it on a sporting platform, a friendly fan rivalry or a much deeper feeling that lies within what is engrained in the history of the British Isles.
But when every single England rugby player is asked whether they hate the Irish, Scottish or Welsh, the answer is almost always a firm “no”. Not even a joke, or an ill-advised quip, the feeling just isn’t there.
Here are five possible – mainly unjustified – reasons why they might hate England:
5. History
According to James
“It’s down to empire building. It got done a long, long time ago. I was nothing to do with it. I never once got in my boat and said: ‘right you’re part of Great Britain.’ I can’t be held responsible for it.
“It’s an easy motivation factor for other sides because of the long, entrenched history. It’s very difficult for us to feel the same. If you know your history we are partly to blame.”
JUDGEMENT: Maybe, but probably not. It’s not even recent history now.
4. Media worship and favoritism
Does an England bias exist? *Silence*
JUDGEMENT: Maybe, probably. Definitely in the case of John Inverdale…
John Inverdale for his ability whatever the circumstances to bring it around to England.
— Apllyr (@llyrapd) February 18, 2019
3. ‘The rest of the world hates us because we invented everything’
“Football, rugby, railways, Concorde, fish and chips, Greenwich mean time and the bicycle. Not to mention the zebra crossing which has saved millions of lives.” claims political columnist Paul Routledge.
JUDGEMENT: We doubt this one very much. Hard to hate a rugby team without rugby.
2. Political tensions
Been an awful lot of these down the years, most recently Brexit. Being English, I can see why the behaviour of our politicians, e.g. Boris Johnson, could well and truly piss some people off.
JUDGEMENT: Might be something in this – rugby being somewhere to take out their frustrations with other aspects of their lives.
1. They’re obsessed with 2003 i.e. England winning the Rugby World Cup
The number one thing that always seems to grinds their gears about the English is that we are always banging on about winning the World Cup in 2003.
JUDGEMENT: This argument has legs but they’d do the same if they had won it. 100% guaranteed.
The 50 Greatest British Rugby Players Of All-Time Have Been Ranked By Fans
#50. Mike Tindall (England)
#49. Scott Quinnell (Wales)
#48. Matt Dawson (England)
#47. Will Carling (England)
#46. Scott Hastings (Scotland)
#45. Jonny May (England)
#44. Finlay Calder (Scotland)
#43. Maro Itoje (England)
#42. Rob Howley (Wales)
#41. Adam Jones (Wales)
#40. Peter Winterbottom (England)
#39. Andy Irvine (Scotland)
#38. David Sole (Scotland)
#37. Scott Gibbs (Wales)
#36. Lewis Moody (England)
#35. Chris Paterson (Scotland
#34. Mervyn Davies (Wales)
#33. Rory Underwood (England)
#31. Fran Cotton (England)
#30. George North (Wales)
#29. Will Greenwood (England)
#28. Tom Smith (Scotland)
#27. Phil Vickery (England)
#26. Graham Price (Wales)