I am a huge, huge fan of this England team. They’ve just completed their first autumn clean sweep for four years and their winless run is now at 11 matches. These are impressive facts.
I know how hard it is to reach those sorts of numbers as between 2018 and 2019, the best Wales side I played in went 14 matches unbeaten. I’ve got nothing but praise for England’s progression. They’re not only winning, but building impressive strength in depth.
The age profile of their squad is very, very good with the 2027 World Cup in mind and I also like the way the team has connected with the fans in the last year. All that said, I would urge caution.
I think England supporters are again at risk of getting ahead of themselves. I don’t think that will happen inside the camp as Steve Borthwick isn’t the sort of coach to let his players get distracted by praise. But the reality is that for all England’s undoubted progression, there is still a huge, huge gap between them and South Africa.
I think that much was shown by the 27-23 victory over Argentina. England weren’t at their best and had the Pumas nailed their last lineout, they could very well have lost. It showed me there is still a lot of work for England to do. Borthwick will know that.
I can say this as a Welshman. But sometimes, I think England fans can get too excited, too early. It happens in all sports. When the footballers beat teams like San Marino and Albania, all of a sudden they’re going to win the next major tournament.
England weren’t at their best as they squeaked past Argentina and it showed me there is still a lot of work to do
Had the Pumas nailed their last lineout, England could very well have lost
I’ve seen it in cricket too, which is pertinent right now after the first Ashes Test. It’s definitely true of rugby supporters too. A good example is the 2015 World Cup. And we all know what happened there!
The fallout from the Argentina game has focused on Tom Curry’s tackle on Juan Cruz Mallia. It’s always awful when any player suffers a serious injury, as Mallia has by rupturing his knee ligaments. To me, Curry’s hit was slightly late and at worst reckless and clumsy. It clearly irked the Argentina players and coaches, causing a proper bust-up on the field and in the tunnel. But a tunnel fracas comes and goes. Far more important is the long-term development of this England side.
To win the next World Cup, England will have to beat South Africa and on the evidence of what I’ve seen this autumn, there is no side on the planet capable of doing that right now. The Springboks are a scary, scary team. They’re so good in fact they’ve been winning games with 14 men!
You could make a very good argument to say that South Africa’s reserve side is good enough to be ranked the No 2 team on the planet such is the quality of their resource. England supporters just need to take things slowly. Borthwick’s team are among the best of the rest chasing the Springboks, along with France, New Zealand and Ireland. But there is still a significant gap for them to breach.
England’s next target has to be a first Six Nations title since 2020. It won’t be a total disaster if they don’t win the 2026 championship. But equally, it would also be very disappointing as it is both the natural next step for this team and at the same time also a more-than-realistic goal.
Borthwick has done very, very well. Only 12 months ago, he was under pressure with England losing a series of tight matches. He’s clearly a very good coach. But what he’s also done well is surround himself with good people. Lee Blackett and Byron McGuigan have been great additions as assistants.
England’s Six Nations fixtures aren’t the worst either. Their big games will be at home to Ireland and away to France. They do have to travel to Edinburgh where they have a poor recent record, but England should be confident of beating Scotland. England are going in the right direction and they still have players to come back into their squad with George Martin a notable figure in that regard.
While they weren’t at their best against Argentina, the performance of Max Ojomoh showed just how deep England’s talent pool is.
South Africa are by far and away the best team in world rugby right now – and they proved that in Dublin on Saturday with a comprehensive dismantling of Ireland
Damian Willemse’s early try and celebration showed the confidence this Springboks team has
They completed a clean sweep of their own this autumn and the rest of the world is playing catch-up
More magic from Rassie
I have teamed up with Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac to highlight Moments of Excellence on and off the pitch from this month’s Quilter Nations Series.
I have to recognise the absolute coaching genius of Rassie Erasmus. My Rémy Martin Moment Of Excellence is the South Africa coach’s decision to replace both his props at the end of the first half in his team’s 24-13 victory over Ireland. No other coach would have thought to do it.
Erasmus’ decisive call summed up to me how far ahead both he and his team are of their rivals. At the time, South Africa were 12-7 up and Ireland were all at sea with both Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley in the sin bin and James Ryan having been handed a 20-minute red card.
Erasmus sensed blood and went for the jugular. With the clock in the red, he replaced his starting props Boan Venter and Thomas du Toit with Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw.
Erasmus was aware the first half in Dublin had been very intense with lots of scrums and mauls, so he knew his props would already be tired. Additionally, his starting front row only normally plays in the region of 50 minutes anyway. But I doubt any of Erasmus’ fellow bosses would have been prepared to make a double tactical change before half time as he did.
It worked a treat, with Steenekamp and Louw – who is 22st 9lb by the way – coming on fresh and, under Erasmus’ instruction, absolutely emptying the tank at scrum time.
The result was it forced Ireland to concede another yellow card and huge set-piece pressure. With Andrew Porter the latest home player in the sin bin, Ireland were down to 12 men. It meant 22-year-old replacement Irish prop Paddy McCarthy had to come on. If I’d been McCarthy, I’d have called in a bomb scare or anything at that point to have avoided coming on!
The next scrum was so one-sided the Irish pack almost ended up on the roof of the Aviva Stadium. South Africa destroyed them, aided by Steenekamp and Louw, winning a crucial penalty try which laid the platform for victory. It was incredible rugby, aided by outside-the-box coaching.
Wilco Louw, who is 22st 9lb, took Ireland apart at the scrum after Rassie Erasmus’ masterstroke
Wallabies show where France are vulnerable
England’s final Six Nations game is against France in Paris on March 14. There is a lot of water to go under the bridge between now and then, but that tie to me has all the makings of a potential Grand Slam decider.
England have had a great autumn and Borthwick will have noted Australia’s display in France on Saturday night.
Australia are out on their feet and have made unwanted history by becoming the first Wallaby team since 1958 to lose all of their northern tour matches. Even with that poor record, Australia still managed to score some nice tries in Paris and move France’s defence around.
But they’ve got Antoine Dupont to come back for the Six Nations and they’ll be a totally different team with him at the helm. Like England, France have a great age profile to their team which bodes well for the future of both sides.
Even with their poor record at the end of a long season, Australia still managed to score some nice tries in Paris and move France’s defence around
What a bumper autumn
This year’s autumn internationals have been absolutely fantastic. The quality of the rugby has been outstanding on the whole with bumper crowds watching on.
I’ve loved being a part of it and it’s made it crystal clear to me that the international game is in rude, rude health.
Rugby gets lots of bad press and sometimes rightly so. But at the same time, we must also celebrate the good moments. The past four weeks undoubtedly fit into that category.
Dan Biggar is a Rémy Martin ambassador. Please Enjoy Responsibly. https://www.remymartin.com/