AS an avid rugby fan I have followed the World Cup with great interest.

Although England won four out of their five games, losing only once to a fired-up French team (and eventual finalists), it has to be said that they didn’t perform to their potential and no one is more frustrated and disappointed about this than me.

However, the reporting of a series of non-incidents, which portrayed our team as a bunch of hooligans, makes me sick.

Journalists, led by the gutter press, seem hell bent on besmirching our sportsmen and bringing our national team down.

Only last week in The Northern Echo, Sharon Griffiths called the England team“a bad joke”. She added that they were “ill-disciplined and, in some cases, downright unpleasant” writing: “They can’t even play decent rugby so what’s the point in them?”

This is exactly the type of comment that makes me sick.

What knowledge does Sharon have of rugby? Probably none, like 95 per cent of the journalists who think it’s in their job description to knock our national teams.

Disgraceful.

Mike Wardle, Cornsay.