real shame England

I think Martin Johnson has been a bit of a surprise as a manager. Initially I thought the talented backs* would be wasted with such a pragmatic man but his success so far I think has been due to 2 and 3, both things that you would expect him to be good at dealing with - he is just the right man to tell players to stop showboating, stop believing the media hype, concentrate on their game and get the win first and foremost.

Another thing (so point 4) you can't ignore (unless you work for the media) is that during this six nations England had three home games, including the biggie against France. Us and Ireland were the two away games and against us it was close and Ireland was a loss. So that is a factor as well.

The english media are laughable when they were saying "the last Grand Slam was in 2003 and look what happened after that...."  and I'm very happy that boat has sunk, but Johnson could well be the man to sort out a few egos that have grown too big for their boots and, as much as it pains me to say it, they are still the strongest NH side at this moment and arguably have a chance to do well in the WC. So I think Martin Johnson is just the man to enforce realism within his squad. If they are up to the challenge that the SH teams present is another matter. 

*The main area I think lets England down is in the centre - too many Prem sides have had big, crash ball Islanders for too long that hardly any English talent has come through. Possibly one of the most talented English backs, Matthew Tait, was dismissed for being too small and England badly lack a cutting edge and creativity in this area of the park. However, as we see with Wales as well, defence comes first and size matters.