The first thing to note is that this is not the same England side that won the last world cup: a handful of key players have retired, a coach has moved on and there have been injury problems with other key figures. That said... the second thing to note is that the England side that won the world cup was not actally that good and didn't really deserve that title - the only reason they reached the final was the most diabolical conditions for the semi final against the French (a far superior side at the time) and in all honesty the only reason they got anywhere was front row strength and a freaky kicker.

For those of us who think Rugby is first ad foremost a game of spreading the ball wide and running with it that English side was a pretty sorry affair - one sometimes wondered why they even bothered fielding anyone on the wing.

On a more positive note.. the Welsh have been playing some stunningly expansive stuff of late.. and the French played a quite electrifyingly open game in yesterday's contest: I had to go out before the end but what I did see was the most inspiring sporting spectacle I've seen in a long time - great stuff!