Sometimes money cannot buy you everything as England’s hapless rugby team have just demonstrated for all the world to see. More players, more facilities and more money spent than any other competing nation, in an attempt to make them world beaters, have counted for nothing.

Inept, indecisive and uninspiring leadership from coach to captain. Poor team selection, naive tactics and indiscipline from many players put paid to any chance of repeating what their illustrious predecessors did back in 2003.

As with many English sports, our coaches are too obsessed with computer statistics, spread sheets and charts. When will they learn that their players are not robots and the qualities that determine winners cannot be measured by a computer? How can qualities like hunger, the will to win and a refusal to accept defeat be quantified? How can a computer measure a spark of brilliance?

There is no wonder that both coach and captain feel that they have let their country down. They are both decent men but sports fans don’t want decent, they want winners.