It’s smart of Eddie to give them a kicking

ENGLAND are in a dream position now. They only needed a seven out of 10 to beat France yesterday, but overachieved and scored a nine.

Two wins, top of the table, job well done and two weeks to prepare for Wales, which is going to be another level.

Eddie Jones has got his mojo back. He won 22 out of 23 to start, then lost his way in 2018 and got so many things wrong, became too involved in off-field stuff and it affected the whole team.

England look to have regrouped and the last two games have been amazing. From a coaching point of view they have been two masterclasses.

To come back with all the pressure on them after a 10 out of 10 display in Dublin, and to play so well again was incredible.

I thought that England would win by a small score against France but did not imagine victory by a 36-point margin. Someone is going to have to play really well to beat this team now.

Eddie backed it up, and I think the key point was that England kicked France into submission at Twickenham. The places they are taking the game to tactically now are really exciting.

Any defensive coach looking at England now will think: ‘Wow, how do you stop this team?’

Five of the six tries came as a result of brilliant kicks.

Kicking in the way they did at Twickenham is not a negative tactic at all. They are not aimless box-kicks, kicking it out in touch to stop the game, they are kicking to score.

It is not new at all but when done effectively creates mayhem for the opposition. Kick to score. Kick into space, and kick to reclaim the ball.

NOW

England have a whole back line who can play this game. They were all at it and it was brilliant. Elliot Daly started it, with a left-footer into the deadball area for Jonny May. And Chris Ashton, Ben Youngs, Henry Slade and Owen Farrell all got in on the act to set up scores.

They are clearly all working at it and it is paying off massively. When you have a flyer like May outside, kick well and you reap the rewards.

May did not score a try in his first seven Tests and I wasn’t sure about him early on. I would have put Anthony Watson ahead of him, but now, with 12 tries in 12 there is no way you can drop him.

The back three is sorted. I liked Ashton starting and Daly did well. Like Slade, those guys have nailed down their positions after winning two tricky games so comfortably.

There is a really nice balance to the side and the new guys coming into the team are adding so much. Mark Wilson, Tom Curry and Kyle Sinckler have been outstanding.

Every time the whistle went, there was Wilson. He really is a force of nature in terms of his personality, and you can see the effect he has on the team. He has come from nowhere, which is fantastic for him and for Eddie. Curry, for a young lad, has amazing physicality. At last England have a proper No 7 and look like they have players in the right positions.

The only slight disappointment was Sinckler becoming involved in a scrap, slapping Athur Iturria on the head which led to a scuffle. He definitely should have been yellow-carded for that. It is a worry as he has a little bit of history with discipline — do that in a World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks and you will lose the game. That was the only negative, he was great otherwise and really looks to have cemented his place at tight-head.

You just despair for France. They didn’t have a clue and were outmanoeuvred and out-coached by a very good England team. It has been a really bad year for them and Scotland should fancy their chances next time out in Paris.

By contrast England are in a great position for 2019, but need to keep their feet on the ground. They have a two-week build-up to playing Wales in Cardiff now and must be on fire come Saturday week. I would give the players a couple of days off and then get back into it.

You can lose it on the training paddock if you don’t get the balance right between underand over-cooking your players in a Six Nations down week.

And you only chat about the Grand Slam if it is still on for that last game against Scotland at Twickenham on March 16 — until then there is no talk of it. If England lose to Wales, which I don’t see them doing, all the work will have been undone.

The Wales game is an amazing opportunity. They will be favourites and should wind it up to as big as they can, as their whole season now hangs on it.

Make no mistake, the one team who can beat England are this Welsh team in Cardiff.