Six Nations: Are England finally getting over the World Cup?

-By Edward Wade
It was only five months ago that England were knocked out of the group stages at their own World Cup after some dismal performances. Touted as one of the favourites before the tournament, they were brought crashing down to reality after defeats against Wales and Australia.

Fast-forward to the Six Nations and England find themselves champions, producing some fine rugby under the stewardship of Eddie Jones. So what’s changed? When Jones came in he said, he needed to ’shake’ things up and he did exactly. Making Dylan Hartley captain was a starting point and a bold move, considering his disciplinary record, but it looks to have paid off. The whole team look fresher and full of energy; they have begun playing more like the old England.

The game against Ireland was a bit of an eye opener. It gave us glimpses of the good and the bad. Three wins from three looks impressive, but the old weaknesses are still there. England left themselves open to throwing the match away. Despite such an impressive first half, which should have seen them with a bigger lead than only three points, they could have potentially lost it in the final 20 minutes with James Haskell being sin-binned along with Danny Care, meaning they played much of the second half a man down. Haskell, however, was not impressed with the decision saying that big screen replays were ‘unhelpful.’

The Irish were unable to take advantage of their extra numbers and despite winning 10 turnovers to England’s two, they were sloppy in execution and made too many poor decisions putting pressure on themselves.

So far it is not exactly an English revolution, more like a team that is galvanized. But Jones does have the chance to build a team around a real piece of talent. Billy Vunipola has looked sensational so far and at 23, he still has room to improve. The Saracens star has become more mobile and powerful and was a big player against Ireland, creating huge holes in their defense. Vunipola has the kind of potential to become one of the best number eights in the world. He made 18 carries and beat 10 defenders against Ireland. If Jones can further integrate the other talented youngsters such as Maro Itoje, Jack Nowell, George Kruis and Elliot Daly, England will have a bright future ahead of them.

So what for the rest of the tournament? There is no doubting that this Wales side was a step up from Ireland, they were stronger, better balanced and more physical. They pushed England to the ragged edge, but once again Jones’ side hung on to claim a win.
England knew this was their biggest test so far but at home they had to be favourites. And to put it simply, they got the job done.

It was arguably the first real test for Eddie Jones in his short tenure as England head coach. Wales knew that they had stop Billy Vunipola, and it was a battle of the eights with the Saracens man coming up against his cousin Taulupe Faletau.

But there were big battles throughout the pitch, with powerhouse Jamie Roberts completely controlled by Owen Farrell. It was to see Jones throw in Manu Tuilagi, who has had a 15-month layoff from international duty, and he will surely be a huge boost for England looking forward.

All told, England deserved the title. They haven’t been miles above the rest, but when they had to get the job done, they did.