London: England’s rugby, football and cricket teams have crashed out of World Cups in the first round in the past 16 months, but Prime Minister David Cameron denied yesterday he is the “curse” behind the failures.
While the country mourned the rugby team’s humiliating exit from the tournament on home soil, the British leader sought to distance himself from the disaster.
Rugby is only the latest sporting catastrophe to hit the country however.
Wayne Rooney’s England team failed to get past the group stage at the football World Cup in Brazil last year.
The cricket team—captained by Irishman Eoin Morgan—exited in the first round in the World Cup in Australia this year.
LBC radio presenter Nick Ferrari yesterday asked the prime minister whether there is a “curse of Cameron” tainting English teams. “That annoys me so much. That’s nonsense,” Cameron replied.
“Who was Prime Minister this summer when we won the Ashes, thank you very much? I was Prime Minister when we had the best ever haul of Olympic medals.
“I always support England and we don’t always win. Shock, horror, surprise. I shouldn’t let these things annoy me but I was there on the great nights when Mo Farah won gold. I’ve witnessed some great sporting triumphs.
“There is no curse. It’s probably the curse of Ferrari,” added Cameron, who when a schoolboy at Eton opted to play football instead of rugby.
Cameron is currently at the ruling Conservative Party conference in Manchester and he told delegates that since England’s defeat he had been supporting Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
“I’ve been going round this conference and I went to the Northern Irish fringe meeting, the Scottish fringe meeting and the Welsh fringe meeting and at each one I said ‘At 10 o’clock on Saturday night, I became a Welsh or an Irish or a Scottish rugby fan’,” he said.
Cameron would not comment on whether England coach Stuart Lancaster should be sacked. “Not a matter for me. I appoint my Cabinet, somebody else appoints the head of English rugby football. I know how sad the team must be.”