Peter Jackson: Twist of fate for Stuart Lancaster

Every once in a while whenever the notion takes them, the gods decide to even up the score and divert the course of history.

They arrange these things by pulling not only the strings of the puppets and the puppeteers but their hamstrings as well as their heart strings.

Nor are they averse when the situation demands to throwing a spanner into the works of any goalkicker under the sun, thereby engineering the ugliest of shanks.