Gerwyn Price reckons England’s shock World Cup of Darts demise was down to Luke Littler and Luke Humphries not having the same team ethic as other countries in the event.
Northern Ireland were crowned World Cup winners for the first time on Sunday night, beating Wales 10-9 in an epic final in Frankfurt.
Daryl Gurney and Josh Rock got the better of Price and Jonny Clayton in a final which most expected to feature the English team of Humphries and Littler.
However, the top two players in the world rankings were downed by Germany in their first game, beaten 8-4 by the home nation in a big shock in the last 16.
Price was asked about the need for friendship and a connection between the pair to achieve success in the World Cup of Darts and he suggested this is where the English dream team went wrong.
‘I think you need a connection, I think you need to have that camaraderie off the stage and have that connection,’ the Iceman said after defeat in the final.
‘When we all turned up…and I’m not just saying this because they lost…the only two players who didn’t turn up together, didn’t sit together, didn’t play as a team…I’m not saying who they are, but they didn’t win their first game.
‘You need it. You need to turn up as a team, practice together, sit together, it’s a team ethic and it didn’t show with England and it showed on the board.
‘They’re great players individually, but you need to be a team. You need that team ethic, you need to be together as a team all the way though, but it didn’t happen.
‘I wanted them to do well but they didn’t. I’m not just saying that, I wanted them to do well but they were rubbish.’
An emotional win for Gurney and Rock
The Northern Irish pair downed England’s conquerors in the semi-finals, thrashing the Germans 8-1 before their brilliant tussle with the Welsh in the final.
In a deciding leg of stunning quality Gurney landed a 180 before Rock hit a 171 to leave just 16, which Gurney nailed to wrap it up in just 11 darts.
The 39-year-old has won major titles before, but not since the 2018 Players Championship Finals and he admitted that he felt his trophy-lifting days were over.
‘This is better. I said in my interview yesterday, if we could win this it would be better than any individual competition I’ve won,’ he said.
‘I’m a very proud Northern Irishman today. So pleased to play with Josh. We said we could do damage, we’ve done damage. We came, we won, we conquered.
‘We’re not finished yet. I believed I was finished, that’s why I’m so emotional because I thought I was probably done as a PDC winner but Josh gave me the belief.’
24-year-old Rock turned in a sublime performance over the piece in Germany, with PremiumDartsData revealing his tournament average to be 102.42.
‘That was probably the best World Cup final there’s ever been,’ he said. ‘That was just phenomenal.’
Rock is still searching for his own first major TV title, but reckons this could be the springboard to launch him to individual glory.
‘I’m hoping so,; he said. ‘I believe in myself that it will happen.’
