Lots to admire in this outstanding Test team

IF YOU are being hypercritical, there were areas of England’s performance yesterday that you could pick apart a little — but overall I’m loving the way they are going about their work. There is a real excitement and panache about England at present and for the first time in a while I can’t wait for their next game.

Skipper Dylan Hartley seemed a bit downcast and grumpy afterwards and I’m not really sure what that was about. England were not perfect but, from the outside looking in, let me assure you that they are improving at a rate of knots and becoming an outstanding international Test team.

The good was very good indeed and there was lots to admire. It was so pleasing to again see the way George Ford and Owen Farrell can open teams with the sheer quality and variety of their passing — but they are not the only ones. Alex Goode brought a ton of footballing nous to the table and Elliot Daly is another clever all-round footballer who is always busy and looking for ways to contribute.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I see Daly as an outside centre but I must also concede he had an exceptional game on the wing yesterday. He has all the skills and serious wheels and yes he could play Test match rugby on the left wing but he has the ability to be a real star in midfield.

Elsewhere, Semesa Rokoduguni had the bit between his teeth and his display suggested that perhaps the previous England management dispensed with his services a little bit too quickly after his solitary appearance against New Zealand two years ago.

There was some great hands to appreciate among the forwards as well. The Vunipola brothers are absolute models in that respect. They have both worked incredibly hard on their handling and fitness over the last 18 months and now you see them employing that in every game.

Mako and Billy can make the big busts but they also run at space and they have both developed the hands of Test centres. They know how to put a colleague in for a try. Joe Launchbury is another and I also enjoyed a couple of touches from Kyle Sinckler when he came on.

England are putting together a seriously good team here with two autumn internationals under their belt they can now look to really put the gloss on this campaign in their last two games against Argentina and Australia.

There were a couple of negatives and they would centre largely around how England went off the boil either side of half-time and let in Fiji for three consecutive tries which, just for a while, threatened to seriously undermine their excellent work.

It can be tricky when you are playing opposition that you are expected to beat easily and, after racing into a 31-0 lead after 26 minutes, there is no doubt England went awol mentally for a while. They will not be the first team to have done that in similar circumstances.

Fiji worked hard for their first try from Nemani Nadolo but a few moments later, at 31-5, came that very odd decision by England to kick for goal in front of the posts rather than to stick to the corner or opt for a scrum and ram home the advantage.

That let Fiji off the hook a little and the result was they then went upfield and scored a second try when England’s defence probably did not press hard enough.

Suddenly Fiji had the momentum which they took into the third quarter when they kept attacking and added a third try.

Little decisions and momentum shifts can snowball in Test rugby and England will know that passage of play was not their finest moment. Going over that in the debrief will keep them sharp and on the ball.