Monday 8 February 2016 17:58, UK
England should make it back-to-back Six Nations wins when they visit Rome on Sunday, according to Stuart Barnes, who says France have switched from being slow and stupid to offloading and stupid.
1. It is just as well there are four years to go until the next World Cup. Last weekend's action revealed how much work is needed between now and 2019 if Europe is to challenge the dominance of our superior cousins from the southern parts of the planet.
Still, Rome wasn't built in a day. On that subject England fans should be delighted with the attitude of Eddie Jones who insisted England head to the great city next Sunday to give Italy 'a good hiding'. None of this politically-correct respect; if England are any good at all they will beat Italy well, if they are not...
2. On the subject of rebuilding... it takes time and if the foundations are too shallow, too hurried, then the edifice that grows above the ground will be a decidedly shaky one that will not survive against a rugby storm.
French foundations should be good. They have a young and aggressive front row and a bulky pack yet under Guy Noves they appear to have switched from being slow and stupid to offloading and... er, stupid.
International rugby is somewhere in between where France were and are. Dare I suggest it, but it is as if Noves has forgotten the balance his glorious Toulouse teams once struck some time back in the past when he was one of the world's great coaches.
3. Time for a few individual acknowledgements; let's start with Rhys Priestland. He wasn't the player of the weekend by any measure, he wasn't even man of the match in the game he played but considering the brief game time he has had with his new club the former Scarlet did exceedingly well to take the place of the injured Dan Biggar and hold his sometimes questionable nerve.
Priestland did the basics well and goal-kicked as if he wasn't about to miss anything within reasonable range. A mention too for Liam Williams: just the one start against Connacht last week and he breezed back into the Test game. He's aggressive and intelligent, a great Test match combination. There's plenty more to come from him and Wales.
4. Staying Welsh for a moment, what a defensive performance from Jamie Roberts. Were Cambridge to offer PHDs in the art of intelligent defenders the Harlequins inside centre would be writing a study for the ages with the imprint of Europe's finest specialist coach, Shaun Edwards, heavily influencing every word he wrote.
5. Sergio Parisse played a blinder before attempting a 40-metre drop goal to evoke derision from many quarters of the European rugby community.
I hear that - strictly off the record, folks - he cooked the team's breakfast, drove the bus to the stadium, helped the physiotherapist with the rubs before delivering a team talk and another tremendous 79 minutes and 50 seconds of Test match action.
Italy are the nearest thing there is to a one-man team but until the great man takes his hand off the tiller the rest are going to struggle to think for themselves and Italy will continue to lose.
6. What is wrong with the simple drop kick? Dan Carter made it look such an easy way to take the odd three points back in the World Cup, yet on Saturday George Ford missed a sitter, Finn Russell screwed up an effort before Priestland came up with a late attempt in Dublin that looked more a kick for the corner than one aimed for the posts and glory.
It will be a weekend that will be remembered as one of infamy for the drop kickers among us.
7. There was no scuffed drop kick from Billy Vunipola. The big Saracens No 8 did what he does best and picked up the ball and charged, again and again and again.
There was much debate over the relative merits of Scotland's policy of picking two opensides on the flank and England two blindsides but none doubted that the main man was Billy V.
He was, of course, the man accused of breaking rank in the World Cup. He stated how a quiet couple of pints rather than the puritanical policy of zero alcohol would help the team bond and relax.
Bath Ales would like it to be known that if the No 8 wants a case, send address via this web site Billy - and the owner is quasi Welsh!
8. Scotland might need a few stiff ones of their own come 7pm next Saturday. Having lost to England at home, they travel to Cardiff and meet a Welsh team whose championship credentials remain in place after that rare draw in Dublin. Stern Vern Cotter's team could play well and end up on the wrong end of this result.
If that should happen the memory of the 'oh so close' World Cup quarter-final will disappear as the next Scottish crisis appears but one more defeat away; if they are to shock Wales they'll need another fine performance from Stuart Hogg at the back.
There were 20 minutes when Finn Russell and the Gray brothers took the game to England in the game's second quarter. That needs to be turned into a high-octane 80 minutes.
9. Eddie Jones is right. England should give Italy a good hiding, Serge Parisse and all. They may only have lost by a couple of points in Paris but France were again awful. Losing to France, full stop, is not an indication of strength in any way shape or form.
Wales played at pace and scored 60 points plus last season against Italy, and Jones says the refereeing of John Lacey forced England into a more conservative game. Here's to a faster flow in Rome - that is if you are English. The slower the better for Italy.
10. In case it passed you by; after one week only England can win the Grand Slam or the Triple Crown. Yes, I know that technically France are in the hunt but home or away they are not good enough to win their next four games, are they?
England have a lot of improvement required, too, and before you say 'but Ireland and Wales are at Twickenham', take a deep breath and say 'so what'? Twickenham is not a fortress any longer. Like the six nations we are watching there is some rebuilding required before England are considered unbeatable against their European counterparts at home.
On the flip side, if they can beat Wales and Ireland the only remaining games are Italy [good for a hiding in the words of the England coach] and France. If they improve at a rate of knots...
