France are only ever an offload away from top gear, Wales’s work ethic has revived them, but England have improvements to make with two out of five Six Nations rounds completed
So far, so good. We know about their strength in depth and their skill levels but we’re seeing a team who look fit, hungry and who believe they can win wherever they are playing. That is an incredible asset. Against Ireland they showed a great maturity for a young team and were able to wrestle back momentum whenever it threatened to slip away. In attack, they can be clinical - even if they left a couple of chances out there against Ireland - and they have an ability to go from first gear to fifth in the space of an offload. That’s all it takes to light the touchpaper and it is so infectious, giving everyone in the side energy. On top of that, it feels as though they have the same desire and enthusiasm for defending as they do for attacking. That is often a key barometer for how together a team is, and that will stand them in good stead while the head coach, Fabien Galthié, is in isolation with Covid-19. His temporary absence will be disruptive but more so for the coaches than the players, in my view. It would be different if it was the start of the tournament but if it was going to happen, a fallow week was the best time for it.
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