Big send-off

with Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, who were such rock stars against Ireland that everyone assumes they will be first choice.

Jack Nowell, meanwhile, must feel like the forgotten man, while Ruaridh Mcconnochie might be thinking how costly the little niggles he has picked up could be. Everyone will be hoping he gets to the start line in Newcastle. Elliot Daly, Jonny May, Joe Cokanasiga, Anthony Watson – what an incredible set of combinations you could have in the back three.

Reading this, I know that many of you will be thinking I have got overexcited again about English rugby, but I cannot help it. Over the course of the past three games, I have watched this England side do some daft things, find themselves in a couple of large holes and dig themselves out of the odd one. They have also never taken a step back physically and managed to combine a power game with an attacking mindset to threaten right across the field.

I also watched the performance against Ireland add up to more than the sum of its parts. This tells me that England are in this together, up for the scrap, and relishing the opportunity that Japan will afford them.

Italy tonight gives the team the chance to take that mentality, that energy, that positivity, up another notch, while bringing our friends in the North to the party. Should England beat Italy tonight, then they will not win a medal, nor will they guarantee pool qualification. They will, however, go a long way to gaining more personal credibility and self-belief as a squad and team. In a tight World Cup, where margins are going to be razor slim, that can be the difference between going home and going further.