Inside England Rugby - Sweet Chariot [DVD]

Inside England Rugby-Sweet Chariot does not purport to be a match highlight film of the 2002 Investec Championship or the 2003 Six Nations: those films already exist. Instead, the film sets out to document the behind-the-scenes of those events and in that vein, succeeds very well. In fact, if anything, the film lags during actual game action because the highlights are quick and sparing indeed. England rugby supporters who want an idea of the preparation and training that goes into test or Six Nations matches will enjoy this film very much. You get to see the press conferences, manager's meetings, captain's meetings, locker room speeches. If there is one criticism from a dramatic standpoint, is that "fly on the wall" sports documentaries are usually only interesting when there is turmoil or struggle within a team. In England's case, the film covers a period where they were undefeated. The closest to adversity you see is some rather poor play in otherwise victorious efforts. That said, the film is more interesting when the players are off duty than in the locker room. The most memorable highlight of the films comes when the players indulge in Trivial Pursuit and spring a question on Martin Johnson. I won't ruin the payoff by telling you it here.Essential for all true England supporters...

All good

Bought for a birthday for a rugby fan who likes to see the backroom stories of the rugby world cup! Didnt disappoint, great insight into the hard work involved, really enjoyed the dvd

This is a good DVD and will be really popular following the recent World Cup and with the Six Nations just starting. The behind the scenes stuff including the team meetings are interesting but I was disappointed with the way the matches were shown. All that big musical score and close up footage means you can;t really see whats going on. The TV highlights with some touchline scenes (like Living with the Lions)would have made it far more watchable. In my opinion while the match sequences don't ruin the DVD they do detract from its quality.You get the build up of excitement throughout the week before the game and then the match itself disappoints with many key points of the game also missing (some of the worst excesses of thuggery from the Springboks at Twickenham have been omitted as have other memorable incidents).Overall though, still worth getting.

This DVD is brilliant. Why are their not more DVDs made about the motherland nation of rugby? Absolutely excellant. Very insightful and interesting. I am delighted with this purchase.

What aload of tosh. I was seduced by the marketing. This is a very poor disk and only has the briefest of highlights of the 2002 autumn interntionals and 2003 6 nations. It is a con. Spend your money on something better.

Great DVD with great action games.

An interesting view of Englands preparations for the 2002 Autumn internationals and the 2003 grand slam, lots of comments from many of those inside the camp, but you are not going to learn much new here.A good laugh in places and around 2 1/2 hours overall, but no real insight is gained of how Woodward and his management operate, or how the players approach games.