POTENTIAL FOR THIS TEAM IS SCARY
THAT performance, and in particular a ruthlessly efficient and effective first half, has been brewing for a while. In fact it was overdue and the moment I saw Owen Farrell come through his fitness test I knew for sure England were going to blow the Scots away.
Make no mistake, this is a great England side with the rugby world at their feet. You don’t win 18 Tests in a row by being anything other than quite exceptional but I am so pleased they hit top gear yesterday to underline that fact — and also give us a tantalising glimpse of the future.
This is still early days for a developing team, they are one year into a four-year plan, and their potential is positively scary.
Before the game, Farrell’s possible absence was the only cloud on the horizon for England because his 10-12 axis with George Ford is absolutely fundamental to this England team. It enables them to operate at the very highest level when they really have to, a wondrous sort of rugby that produces those sumptuous tries by Jonathan Joseph.
Speaking as a former outside centre, what a complete joy it must be to play outside such creativity. You pray for days like that and when they come along you must cash in. Class players always make it count.
It is remarkable to think that two weeks ago Joseph was overlooked for the Italy match and sent back to Bath for a game. I’m not sure he was playing badly as such, but it seemed to work the trick.
Joseph is one of those players who can really soar when the force is with him and he is such an elegant runner to watch when he is in that mood. A couple of his tries had more than a hint of Jerry Guscott about them.
England were outstanding in the first half against a side, remember, who had beaten Wales and Ireland.
There was a sharpness, precision and tempo to everything that England did that has eluded them in all their games so far in this Championship.
It was always going to happen. England were annoyed — and a little embarrassed — after the Italy game and Eddie Jones has been ominously quiet by his own standards ever since. He took his squad off for a busy working week in Oxford and clearly also did his homework and decided to attack the Scotland midfield off the line-out.
Huw Jones and Alex Dunbar are good players but England sensed that if Ford and Farrell could create the space and leave the killer pass late, Joseph could pick them off.
From the moment Joseph glided over in the third minute you could see Scotland were facing a long day at the office and the size and nature of this defeat is a big setback. England poured it on and they had no answer. When England produce their ‘A’ game it is difficult to see how you can counter them. They can hit you from everywhere.
Some of Scotland’s big players had poor games, particularly Finn Russell, but it happens.
I would add by the way that Huw Jones showed real grit to bounce back from a nightmarish first half to become the centre of Scotland’s second-half resistance with two tries of his own.
Overall, though, Scotland need to put a line under that performance and finish on a high against Italy.
It is a job very well done so far by England, with a second Championship title in the bank, but there is still a stack of work needed to make it a second Grand Slam on the trot.
I would have much preferred Ireland to have beaten Wales on Friday which would have seen the Irish chasing the Championship themselves in front of their own fans. That would have brought its own pressure.
Now the Irish are free to make mischief and life as difficult as possible for England as Eddie Jones’ team also look to make it a world record 19 Test wins on the trot.
It reminds of me of 2011 when Martin Johnson’s England went to Dublin on the final weekend looking to close out a Grand Slam against an Ireland side that had won just two games in the Championship.
Ireland turned up the wick and simply blew England away in the first half and that England team never really recovered their poise and disappointed at the 2011 World Cup.
Going back further we went to Dublin in October 2001 on the Grand Slam trail and came a cropper against the Irish.
It was a painful experience and although I have huge confidence in this England team, they must stay tight and focused this week.
The Irish will have an ambush planned, they have 80 minutes to resurrect their season and I can guarantee you Eddie will not consider this a successful season unless they get the job done in Dublin.
Great sides win big matches on the road.