Progress, but more needed
tering, skin-of-the-teeth win over an Italy side yet to make the great leap forward. They slipped to a third successive whitewash but salvaged a bit of pride. Those who believe Italy offer something worth having in the tournament, and lovers of that Rome trip, will always welcome signs of life in the Azzurri but it is a tad irritating that it always seems to come against Scotland.
As for Scotland, Townsend has spelled out in no uncertain terms that the job is to close the gap with champions Ireland before they meet in Yokohama for their opening pool match at next year’s World Cup. Were Scotland to lose that they could face a must-win closing clash with hosts Japan.
For England it has been a chastening year and a classic example of how quickly the wheels can come off the most seemingly invincible chariots when teams work you out.
The inquest will rumble on for some time south of the Border, with player management the big issue. Coach Eddie Jones seemed to have an inkling of what lay ahead back at the Six Nations launch in January, when he said: “Ireland have got a centrally contracted system, their players are in great nick, three of their provinces have done well in the European competition. England have all these injuries, we don’t have a central contract system. How can we compete?”
Bonus points are another “new tradition” which appear to be here to stay, but the anticipated try bonanza has failed to appear. Most often it has been the losing bonus point which has had more of a bearing, with teams battling to get one and leaders determined to prevent them.
In the end, the table would have been the same under the old two points for a win system. Sometimes old traditions are worth keeping. 0 Dan Leavy and Conor Murray celebrate winning the Grand Slam.