Gibbo - So my last rant fully expected England to be spanked and for a new dawn to begin. Instead I may have got the best of both worlds. England won with 14 men as Balshaw was so awful that he should have worn a blue shirt and within any normal bounds of reason, he should be banished from the England squad forthwith.
In all honesty England can put their victory down to French naivety more than anything. One starting cap shared between 8, 9 & 10, no specialist goal kicker, a game plan that was as predictable Reggie Perrin's commuting challenges and a front row that may only be able to compete with Australia at international level. Hardly a recipe for success. Lievremont is correct to play with such youth, but they still need to be smart about it. England were streetwise and their front row is looking ominously good. At the ruck at the end when Wigglesworth scored, you can see Phil Vickery running and hurdling players as if the game had just started to get to the ruck to ensure the ball was safe. Quite a contrast to his recent outings as skipper. England still didn't do much with the ball in hand and need to get the wings more involved in the game.
Wales were the team of the weekend though and are looking mightily dangerous, their game in two weeks should be a good one if the Irish can get pumped up for it. They too looked impressive against the Scots, but they need to bring some consistency to threaten Wales.
One final point to make is that the press have hinted that England can still win the 6 Nations. Statistically this is true but the reality is a stretch. Wales would need to lose to Ireland and France, England would need to beat Scotland and Ireland, and then England would need to make the 7 points deficit that they have to France in points difference at the moment. As France are yet to play Italy where they could clock up a cricket score, I see this as a very big mountain to climb. After the impressive tally Wales racked up against Italy, even a loss would not knock them from favourites for the cup at least.
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