NICK CAIN
READ HIS EXPERT OPINION EVERY WEEK
AS we approach the Six Nations midpoint, England are more like a Thames barge making slow headway to destination, rather than a streamlined clipper slicing through the waves at speed.
No one doubts the honest endeavours of those steering the England barge, with head coach Steve Borthwick at the helm, but two narrow wins from two matches so far tells us that, bar a drastic collapse by Ireland, they are not potential champions.
By the same token, they are not the most likely candidates for a berth at the foot of the table just above the ever-marooned Italy.
Wherever England finish, what we also know is that when it comes to favourable tournament draws Borthwick has so far been very lucky.
The skewed World Cup schedule which saw England finish in third place convinced no-one with any rugby nous that they were close to being the world’s third best team, given that Ireland and France went out in the quarter-finals. It has been a similar story of good fortune in this Six Nations, with England benefiting from playing the weakest side, Italy, in the opener in Rome, and then the side in greatest transition, Wales, at Twickenham last weekend.
Those two narrow wins (27-24 and 16-14) have been a cause for wary optimism following four years of English first round defeats, the last three of which came against Scotland. It is this statistic which makes England’s trip to Murrayfield on Saturday their most pivotal of the tournament.
Aloss to the Scots for the fourth year on the trot will put England on the skids, with a lowly finish on the cards again. It would also undermine a post-World Cup rebuild in which Borthwick has talked about playing a potent attacking style of rugby, but has yet to put those words into practice.
The remaining games against the two strongest teams would also be a forbidding prospect, with the imperious Irish coming to Twickenham, and a French side which started poorly looking to finish in style in Lyon against their biggest cross-Channel foes.
By contrast, a victory over the Scots should secure England at least a third place finish before facing the big guns. It would give them the freedom going into the last two rounds of not having much to lose, but plenty to gain.
After just over a year in the job Borthwick needs that uplift, because he has struggled to build a team which plays with fluency and flair, or which has above average ability in any area.
The only exception is that full-back Freddie Steward provides a superstrength as one of the best highball catchers in the game – especially in an era in which most teams are box-kicking the ball to death. England are also as adept as most of their Six Nations oppone
