4 England taking on the All Blacks

The World Cup is now only 12 months and nine competitive games away.

Ergo, everyone will be hoping to catch Eddie Jones’s eye. It seems a long time since my January column when I said that Eddie would be targeting the world No1 ranking. I stand by that. England were No2 at that point and playing good rugby. No question they would have been targeting the top spot.

Times have changed, though. The Six Nations and the South Africa tour were sobering affairs. Eddie badly needed that third Test win against the Boks. And England badly need a big autumn now.

Three wins out of four and a battle royale with the All Blacks at Twickenham is an absolute minimum.

The make-up of the back row is our most serious question. I am looking forward to seeing how the Curry brothers – Ben and Tom – develop at Sale, and how Brad Shields beds in at Wasps.

Billy Vunipola will be trying to stay out of the sanatorium.

But you have to say, New Zealand (left) are miles ahead of England at the moment.

The sheer simplicity of their brilliance is what gets me. They are so good at the basics.

It is just that they play at a million miles an hour.

Steve Hansen’s face did not flinch once when they made those first-half errors against Australia.

They come with the territory. He knows that if New Zealand execute their game with their heart rates close to 200bpm, no one will be able to live with them beyond an hour.