Have to say I was rather glad Jonny Wilkinson’s Toulon won the Heineken Cup.

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It’s not just that I’ve always been a fan but the way some had patted him on the head in the build. Yes, you’ve done a good job kicking you team here through the quarters and semi-final, now you can just sit back and let the better team win.

Time and again they just write him off. Time and again he comes back to shut ‘em up if only for a minute. OK he may not have been at the centre of everything, but he put the kick over when needed and scored 11 of their 15 points, all of which were required to win.

There are numerous positions England haven’t adequately filled since that glorious early morning (back here) in Australia in 2003. Numbers 9 and 10 are the major ones. We haven’t had a scrum-half with the class, ability, skill and gob of Dawson and the fly-halves haven’t been much better. Flouncy Flood flouncing tackles, Cipriani constantly shooting himself in the foot and Hodgson being a right Charlie.

Farrell gives you hope, far much more hope than those other three but it’s big shoes to fill those of Jonny Wilkinson.

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Welsh Wales legends have been coming out and complaining about England’s coaches making it public knowledge they have some questions for the referee of Saturday’s championship decider.

Sour grapes they’re all shouting. It’s not. It’s England coming to the end of their tether with an individual they have history with. A history that led me to Tweet before the game…

Wonder if England will get an honest & fair performance from the ref later. History suggests …

— Toxic Web (@Toxic_Web) March 16, 2013

That led former England international Austin Healey to have a change of heart about the outcome before the game…

On Twitter last week I said I would have a £1 bet with anybody in Wales that England would win. Yet the eagle-eyed among you will remember I cancelled this bet the moment I realised Walsh was the referee.

England gave all due praise to the victors on Saturday and after, Healey adding to that comment above…

I owe a pound to the 300-odd of you who took me up on that bet before I changed my mind.

Because we all recognised that Wales put on a hell of a display to rack up that score. As I said in my post in the end Wales didn’t need the help of the ref. Doesn’t mean he didn’t give it and that he should answer questions about it. It’s not sour grapes at all.

Legitimate question have to be raised about why he did certain things, why he thought England would collapse a scrum when they knew Wales would put another 3 points on the board. Why England’s captain is dismissed out of hand when asking for clarification of certain interpretations, while Welsh players who are not their captain gets a nice discussion about things. Why according to England he refereed things differently than he told them in the pre-match meeting.

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Can’t say I was feeling that confident about an England grand slam before Saturday’s game, yes the thought that scraping past Italy might have given them the wake up call required but it was just another step on the downward path.

While England were getting slowly worse over the tournament Welsh Wales were getting better. Stuffing the Jocks and then grinding out a tough one against the Irish were England’s highlights.

I had thought at the time that away performance in Dublin showed England could go on and do enough in Cardiff to pick up their first slam in a decade but since that game it’s been a downward spiral in performance. France won the game for England and Italy were lucky not to get something from their trip to Twickenham and it all culminated in a shockingly nothing second half against Wales as they not only let the Grand Slam slip away but the 6 Nations title as well.

My confidence wasn’t helped either when I saw who was the referee was. He didn’t let me down. When during the game a Welsh commentator states it’s the ref’s show you get the idea. Everyone was there to see him, didn’t you know?

As soon as he let the Welsh hooker away with double pumping his first lineout through you knew what was coming. Any opportunity to penalise England and he took it. Though he did it with the help of some of those in white. Knowing what was happening Youngs repeatedly delaying the put in to the scrum just played into the official’s hands. You can’t give him the opportunity to blow the whistle.

In the end even though he did his best for them, Wales really didn’t need any help from the officials. Once Tuilagi butchered England’s first, and probably only, chance to cross the try-line after taking his eyes off an easy pass the writing was on the wall.

It was going to be one of those England games. Easy things not done. Youngs slow, high passes. Tackles missed. Lost count of the number of first up tacklers that missed. Kicks missed. Scrums destroyed. Lineouts gifted away.

All reaching the nadir when Lancaster threw in the towel and put Toby Flood on.

It’s still a work in progress for Lancaster and when you consider where they came from the number of caps difference between the teams and that there has to be improvement things do look bright. It’s just that this was such a god awful thumping.

Better scrum-half. Better hooker who can throw in the lineouts. Scrummaging that can last the whole tournament. Either a better winger or teaching Ashton to tackle and getting him back making the runs he did when he started. No coincidence that the Welsh targeted him and that he failed. Some of those attempted tackles were so powder puff it was unbelievable. Especially compared to some of the brutal hits that went on in that game. It was almost an horrific first half of hits.

Still for England it could have been worse. Could have lost to Italy and fighting for the wooden spoon like Ireland and France.

Wales 30 - 3 England

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Get the funny feeling that’s all they were thinking about when the little matter of an Italian side could quite have easily spoiled the party.

Or it could have just been Toby Flood.

No matter what you think Stuart Lancaster has brought to this England side watching this game there’s still a feeling that they do look down on certain games. “Just have to turn up” syndrome. It just looked that way against an Italian side who are desperate to get off that winless streak against England. And came damn close to doing it.

Bet Jim Telfer almost had a huge sit eating grin on his fizzog.

All the old traits were back. No form, no structure, no composure, butchering good try scoring opportunities, making the wrong decisions nearly every time. Need to kick, pass. Need to pass, either hold on or kick away.

Only thing missing from the bad old days was the penalties. Hardly gave away any penalties, only five in total, which for England under that pressure in the second half is quite remarkable. No really stupid ones and very few that could result in points against. While England kicked there’s.

My god Toby Flood didn’t bottle them. Though useless in his attempts to find touch from England penalties and seemingly clueless in open play. How many times can I post about this surely being the final nail in the coffin of Flood’s international career? Inept flouncy performance after inept flouncy performance yet he’s still there and they still think he’s competing with Farrell for the number 10 shirt.

How? Why?

Instead of bringing back this failure time and again, in a game like this why not move Alex Goode up fly-half, stick a new winger on the left and move Mike Brown to fullback. Anything is preferable than Flood being on the pitch. It can’t have helped Danny care’s chances of replacing Youngs with that as his half-back partner.

For all the new thinking of Lancaster this is a tired old cliché of team selection.

Still they hung on but Welsh Wales away is a different prospect with a Grand Slam on the line. As much as Italy wanted to get off the snide at Twickenham the Taffs will want to stop their old enemy winning the 6 Nations championship with a clean sweep in their own back yard.

England 18 - 11 Italy

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If England go on to win the Grand Slam or just the Championship they need to strike one more medal and award it to the current French coach because on Saturday he made sure it could happen.

Saint-André finally picked a team that could win a game. He picked a team that was winning a game. The right players actually playing in their right positions. All those players he brought in playing like they can and leading France to their first victory of this championship.

Up until the 53rd minute when he couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t stop himself from trying to prove he was right all along when he picked all the wrong players in the wrong positions that were humiliated by Italy and Wales. In a defiant “I’ll show you” gesture Saint-André handed it all to England grasp defeat from the jaws of victory.

For the first 53 minutes of the game this was the France everyone expected, the France that started the 6 Nations as favourites. Morgan Parra was bossing the game, Trinh-Duc was his able deputy, his forwards were destroying their counterparts and his backs were running through theirs. Who cares about the number of changes when it now resemble a proper team on both paper and more importantly on grass.

While France’s seven changes flourish, two of England’s faltered – only Manu Tuilagi really worked. The choice of Lawes looked almost Saint-André like, a second row played at flanker, there for line-out domination and big hits off the scrum and in the open. Neither came. The hits particularly missing as he flounced the first chance to stop Fofana on his magnificent run for the opening try.

Other areas failed as England’s set pieces faltered. Hartley, the other failing change, in at hooker was poor at the line-outs while the scrum, particularly the front row, was destroyed by Nicolas Mas.

England were second best but had scraped in at half-time with a lead thanks to the boot of Farrell.

Ten minutes into the second half England coach Lancaster made the changes that needed to be made. He removed the players that weren’t working, Hartley, Lawes, Marler and brought on Youngs, Vunipola and Haskell. They immediately made a difference.

While Saint-André went the other way and took off his influential players and replaced them with the sorry mob who had seen the side through their first two losses. First up was the very symbol of those ineffectual games earlier in the championship. Michalak for Trinh-Duc, all seemingly because Parra had missed a couple of kicks. Trinh-Duc could have taken the kicks but the coach wanted Michalak on there to prove he wasn’t wrong before.

Michalak put over his first kick but after that went on to prove what a mistake it was by Saint-André. A mistake compounded as more and more of the influential players left the park to be replaced. as Mas trudged off shortly before Parra it was pretty much game over. Scrums now went England’s way, the French forwards were now on the back foot.

It made it easier for Lancaster to take off the injured Farrell. Injured earlier he had struggled through but you could see after the first of his last two kicks at goal, both missed, he wasn’t right. Chances are he would have slotted them if fit. It meant that England didn’t suffer from the introduction of Flood. Nobody ran at Toby, nobody tested him. Brought on earlier he really would have been a target for the rampaging Bleus. They may have targeted Farrell but he’s up to the rough stuff. Flouncy Flood on the other hand. While Cares showed again he should be starting at 9.

England weren’t anywhere near their best. Lucky with the try – first time England have been on the right side of officiating mistakes for a while – almost back to the bad old days of indiscipline, too many penalties especially kickable ones and another yellow card but still beat a side that was cruising and bossing the game by 10 points.

Most of the XV that started, most of the substitutes should take much of the plaudits but then so so should the French coach. England says thank you Philippe Saint-André.

England 23-13 France

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You can kind of forget the victory over New Zealand, it as a “nothing to lose” game – though magnificent in it’s stuffing of the world champions – after the previous autumn defeats. And you can discount the stuffing of the Jocks, I mean it was just the Jocks, just because they beat an Italian side who hadn’t come down from their own victory over France doesn’t make them world beaters. No matter what the Jock media think.

Both of those games were at home and in extenuating circumstances away in Dublin, different matter all together.

England haven’t travelled well for some time now, certainly not to Ireland, where they hadn’t won for a decade until Sunday afternoon. All highlighted in the period of the game between the 56th minute and 66th minute when James Haskell was serving a 10 minute sin bin penalty. In recentf encounters on Ireland’s home ground yellow cards have cost England dearly here after Ireland initially pulled level with the penalty kick from the yellow card infringement England eventually won the 10 minutes 6-3.

It was a controlled display that showed great maturity for an inexperienced side. A complete contrast to to some past seasons when after being ahead in such a fashion they would let the opposition get back into the game and then be overrun when down to 14.

It could have gone that way when Ireland pulled level but bar those two kickable penalties and one that O’Gara missed they didn’t give Ireland a sniff of a chance to score. Thoroughly outplaying the home side in all aspects of the game.

Not least under the high ball. Pissing down rain and England fullback Alex Goode was secure under all bar one which he didn’t have much of a chance with, alongside him Mike Brown looked as equally secure. While Ireland kept dropping balls and knocking on. It’s in Ireland and they are Irish, you’d think they’d know how to play in the rain. Don’t think I’ve seen so many poor attempts at taking high balls as in that first half.

Ireland never looked like crossing the try line, while for a couple of bounces and a bit of better footballing skill Tuilagi could have had a couple himself after coming on as a substitute. Even Stuart Lancaster’s substitutions didn’t wreck England’s progress. Not introducing Toby Flood helps in that regard as Farrell showed his class, controlling things.

Ben Youngs has come in for some criticism on here and yes he was better this week than last. His kicking played a part but he’s still far too ponderous releasing the ball. One step, hesitate, dummy pass, pass.

And I can’t even have too much argument about the ref. Haskell probably did deserve the yellow, did have a wild swipe with his leg at the ball. Though Irish prop Cian Healy should have seen red for his stamp on Dan Cole and then a wild forearm later.

So the Frogs up next. A classic which French will turn up after they’ve lost their first two games of the championship for the first time in 31 years. At home which you don’t know helps or not, they don’t like the Stade de France and the crowd gets on their back quickly if they play like they do. Bit of luck Saint-André will prove to be as stubborn and not change his losing side. But then they could turn around and do what they did in the Autumn.

England just have to stay calm. Kick the kicks. No stupid penalties. No Toby Flood. No yellows or reds.

Ireland 6 - 12 England

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Arrogant enough there Jimbo? Do like it when the Jocks get all self righteous and over confident. Yes it was them that were the over confident ones not England.

It was like the start of the Heineken Cup when I kept reading how great Edinburgh were and that they were going to take the competition by storm. It didn’t even really stop when they were stuffed 45 nil in the first game. In the end they lost all their pool games, suffered two shutouts, got into double points once and scored a whole 3 tries.

After the weekends games you can see Scotland suffering the same fate. And all this followed a great deal of talk about turning England over on their own patch for the first time in 30 years – oh they had two players with the same name as back then, how could it not happen?

The only reason Jim Telfer’s lads got to within 20 points was through some slack play by England. Both tries from dull kicks and weak tackles and the usual giving away stupid penalties straight after scoring themselves. England weren’t that great really. Played some nice stuff but a number of players were off it. And that makes it the sweeter.

Things can get better for Lancaster’s team. Such as the scrum-half. Youngs made that great snipe leading Parling’s try but in the build up after that snipe it was noticeable how quick the ball was played from the breakdown with someone else at scrum-half, a big lumbering forward no less. He’s still to slow with the pass from the breakdown, Youngs. A step, a dither.

Care needs to start the next game. He also needs to stop being a prat off the field. The ball was so much quicker when he came on. Not that I’m advocating substitutions mind. They always bugger up England’s momentum, especially if it’s a seemingly by the number sub. 65 minutes on comes player X. Again it let the Jocks have some ball and territory.

Introducing the likes of Toby Flood is never a good idea at any time. Farrell’s performance at 10 – 18 points with the boot and a lovely pass for that Parling try – has to see the end of Flood in that position, surely now we can’t go back to Flouncy Flood. And with quicker ball from his 9, Farrell will be better. His kicking was outstanding and something you can trust, unlike Flood. When the scoreboard is ticking over it makes the game easier, unlike when you can’t trust your kicker to bottle it.

Dublin a different kettle of fish. Away for a start, these last two good victories being on home soil. Not been the best of travellers over the last few years. A number of England player have never played over there, you don’t know if that works for or against them. But it’s time to put down a real marker, New Zealand can be still seen as a fluke, the Jocks were pathetic. Ireland away says they’re really on the right way.

England 38-18 Scotland

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…and it was Toby Flood-less. Any coincidence? I think not. But will they learn from this?

England put a score on the reigning World Champions, and unbeaten in 20 games, New Zealand in a performance barely imaginable after what had happened over the last few weeks of the autumn internationals. Yes they came close in those previous games, if they’d taken the kicks against Australia and not against South Africa the results could have been different.

But the performance against New Zealand was just far superior to what we’ve seen before. Up and at ‘em from the off, people saying the All Blacks didn’t play their usual game, well that’s because England didn’t allow them to. Winning starts and re-starts, not being muscled out at the breakdown and not letting them getting a lead when they got back into things after half-time. All while keeping the points ticking over.

Somehow I don’t see that performance if Toby Flood had the number 10 jersey on.

No, Owen Farrell isn’t the greatest stand-off ever but he gives everyone around a greater sense of security than flouncing Flood does. So the competition now should fall between Farrell and debutant Freddie Burns, finally it should be the end of Flood’s rather insipid England career, that has sadly lasted a lot longer than it should have, as he was found out quite a while back.

One more step in the progression of England under Lancaster.

Now we just have to hope the England cricket side figure out their greatest win on Indian soil was a Bell-less victory.

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After people ruled themselves in and people ruled themselves out the RFU finally got round to deciding Stuart Lancaster should be given the job full-time.

As I’ve posted about on here (probably in the related posts below) he should have been given the job after what happened in the 6 Nations. No they weren’t scintillating, yes they only came second when they won it under Johnson but Lancaster was starting at the right place and building.

Building for the future is what is required right now and he’s the right man to do it because the process has started and well he started it. Bringing in someone new, with a different outlook just wasn’t called for at this moment in time. Yes there are more experienced people out there but experience isn’t everything. And while Nick Mallett may have won 17 on a row with South Africa did it win a World Cup. Experience for experiences sake.

No Lancaster was really the only option, so much so that even an English sporting regulatory body couldn’t screw it up.

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Stuart Lancaster along with the England team he put together during this 6 Nations tournament have made a great deal about how it all came about in Leeds, made in Leeds they readily repeated.

Made in Leeds, that get together has bonded the team together with the coaching staff and after the final game of the 6 Nations saw them annihilating Ireland, who had beat them in what 8 straight including that thumping last year, should it mean they’re kept together?

Should Lancaster get the job or should someone else be shipped in and everything be started all over again from scratch? Would a new guy be happy with the players Lancaster has chosen for the squad and starting XV or would he want his own picks? Can’t see it being the former.

But a process has been started, one tournament used up, in the build up to the next World Cup and that after all is the ultimate goal. And as a process it has the feel of the Woodward era of discarding the old guard and getting together a younger bunch to form the nucleus of a side that’ll still be there in a few years time. Now under Clive there was ups and downs, the thrashings that young side took down under, then the World Cup dismissal by the drop goals of Jannie de Beer in ’99.

But ultimately it had the success desired with a drop goal of their own.

This England side under Lancaster have progressed even through the five games played here and are almost light years away from the disaster that was the World Cup. Though of course they only came second in the 6 Nations table, where they won it under Johnson last time out.

Though you could say they were closer to a Grand Slam this time round. One mistake against Wales is all that stood between them and a clean sweep. That mistake was as I posted about at the time one of Lancaster coaching by numbers and making unnecessary personnel changes based on what the clock showed rather than what was happening on the pitch. But bizarrely in English sport he actually seemed to learn from his mistake and the substitutions weren’t as bad in the following games.

Lancaster has got the fans happy to support and watch England again and I would say a major part of that is the turfing out of a lot of the the previous regimes players and bringing in new and untried individuals who at this moment see representing England as an honour and not as their right. The task is to keep their mindset like that once they become established.

So to the Ireland thumping. OK it wasn’t the greatest performance all round wise. The conditions didn’t help in that respect. Felt like time for an old fashioned England game at headquarters, in the rain and number 8 with his socks round his ankles and the ball up his jumper – think Dean Richards or Mike Teague – fly-half kicked to the corners.

Didn’t quite turn out that way as the forward domination came from a little further forward. The England front three just destroyed Ireland’s scrum. I don’t think even Australia’s at it’s worst has crumbled like that under such an assault from England. Luckily for England the ref knew what was happening and everything that happened at the scrums was all down to the domination of those in white.

Some might think the complacency has hit early with Dickson’s performance against Ireland. Over confidence that he’s now first pick and so had a bit of a stinker. Personally I don’t think he was as bad as some would have you believe. Yes he created problems for himself wasting time behind rucks before clearing his lines, with sliced kicks. But then he did that previously and it seems the routine of most number 9s in this tournament. He was still quick to the breakdown and when he wanted quick away from it with the pass. Certainly quicker than Youngs. Yes Youngs was quick thinking with his try but facing a completely demoralised Ireland side who’d yet again crumbled at a scrum and then turned their back on him, if he hadn’t scored a try there then he he should never wear an England shirt again.

Dickson should still be first choice but if it gives Youngs the kick up the arse to get him back to where he was before all the hype then it’s win-win.

So I say keep Lancaster, see if he can cut out the penalties and handling errors – though you can’t exactly blame him for Croft’s juggling act when he could have… should have scored – keep using the youngsters, let them grow together and see what happens. It’s what should be done with the football team, again rugby ahead of it’s offshoot.

But as I said it’s the RFU so god knows what will happen.

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