England watch - same old problems

England’s narrow (some might even say fortuitous) victory over Wales at the weekend told us nothing new about this England squad.

It is somewhat damning that, following Manu Tuilagi’s late withdrawal from the team,  Eddie Jones was forced (again) to rip up the gameplan and start again – but there is no excuse for ending up with a backline full of skilled and talented footballers but with zero cutting edge. 

No heft, very little direct running and a lack of out-and-out pace. It was a problem in the first game against Scotland and it remains a problem.

England’s forwards went pretty well generally in the loose against Wales, especially in the first half, but there appears to be something of a disconnect between forwards and backs and I’m afraid I don’t really understand what this whole “New England” concept is meant to be. 

It’s great that England aren’t just kicking the ball away, but if there is a plan it is certainly not obvious. Give it Marcus Smith to create some magic? Great, he’s playing bloody well, but with no strike runners running off him very few genuine try-scoring opportunities are being created.

Maybe something will evolve over the next couple of weeks – but the backline selected against Wales is unlikely to get much change out of Ireland.

And as for France…

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was