Diggin hasn’t played a great deal of games this season either, and Morgan and Monye have also been injured. I’m pretty sure that Monye has missed more games.

Yes, I did mean the 07-08 season, and yes, I am aware about Cueto’s back/hamstring/Porsche problems but he simply does not have the pace of his competitors. He would not have taken Malzieu like that. If England want to counter attack then they need finishers and pace merchants. He cannot match Ojo, Monye or Strettle for pace nor can he match Armitage, Morgan or JSD for footballing ability. He may be your man, but he certainly isn’t mine.

“Monye, Diggin, Balshaw and Olly Morgan.”

Have you taken into account the amount of games he’s missed due to internationals. He also missed a few games at the start of the season due to injury, so only being one try behind those players isn’t bad.

“Although you might be interested to note that he only scored 1 try in the 07-09 GP season”

That is a stat I’m aware of although I’m sure you mean 07-08 season, but constant niggling injuries have hampered him in the last couple of years, but due to a change of regime and car, he is now fully fit and on form. Also around 10 of Cueto’s caps came when he was not fully fit and only scored something like 2 tries in that time.

Monye, Diggin, Balshaw and Olly Morgan have scored more tries than Cueto this year, so his past record is pretty irrelevant. Although you might be interested to note that he only scored 1 try in the 07-09 GP season. The current GP season stats reveal that Cueto isn’t in the top 10 for metres gained, clean breaks or defenders beaten table.

Also, perhaps not today, but against Ireland and specifically Wales, he was the only one of the back three to try and counter and keep the ball in hand, instead of needlessly kicking it away, like Armitage did against Ireland.

Kennedy did more than Shaw, who did his usual, but when he went off the exertions off the French forwards was more pronounced. I agree that Easter played well, despite what that idiot Guscott said.

France were bad because England did the basics better than them. They weren’t purposefully missing tackles. England controlled the ruck and attacked with accuracy.

Cueto, though, is a very good and under-rated winger. His try scoring record speaks for itself and he reads the game well and looks for work, and of course is a very good finisher. I agree Croft was excellent and Kennedy did a lot more than Shaw when he came on. What’s surprised me about Kennedy is how much he has improved in the loose. People said that he is a great line-out operator but not very good in the loose or tight situations, but he has proved people wrong. Borthwick had a much better game and Easter was excellent.

Re France: Well the less said about them the better.

Shaw always does this “What, me?” face. Total dope. I used to watch him regularly at Wasps. Big guy, scrambled eggs for brains. Lovely bloke though.

Monye was the deliberate knock on artist, Pothale. He looked good, I thought. Pace and directions. Far more involved than Sackey.

Shaw was pants even though he contributed to one of the tries – far too many penalties and looked like someone who hadn’t been at any of the briefings about discipline. Not sure if it was Flutey or Armitage who was lucky not get a yellow card for the deliberate intercept/knock on. I thought Dickinson was far too whistle happy, and it looked like France got the rough edge this week – but that’s reffing for you.

I think that Tom Croft was superb. He is an athletic freak. His lineout work, his ruck work and his re-start chasing was supreme. Haskell is a good, powerful flanker but England cannot afford to push Croft into the 2nd row or the bench. He must start at 6. He’s a Lion.

It’s a hard one to call Matta. Sheridan was never as great as his occasional great match suggested. The rumour from his club is that he’d much rather hit the gym than hit scrum practice, but overall I think he has the potential to be better than he is. His work rate is much improved but his scrum performances have been very inconsistent since the WC. The same applies to Vickery who has always been slightly inconsistent in the set piece. That said, I don’t think France were any better in the scrum, the reason being that the ref never allowed them to last beyond a few seconds so how can we judge? For what it’s worth I think that France did have the edge in that area. They should be angry that the ref never allowed them to extend that advantage. It also happens to be the case that Marconnet is one of the best props in the world so he would be a tough nut to crack for most opposition. As soon as Domingo came on the French scrum creaked slightly, but then improved again as the game neared the end.

England were poor against Australia in the Autumn but then they pushed SA around with ease, so I’m guessing the problem is inconsistency. Steve Borthwick is a big problem. His stature affects the scrum and also the breakdown. There are much better scrummagers in England than Sheridan and Vickery but they’re both big experienced men who are great lineout lifters and have a good work ethic, so they deserve to keep their positions. England need to dump Borthwick and play a real enforcer at 4 because Borthwick is neither a 4 nor a 5.

Not too much talk off scrum down here but a couple of RWC wins make up for it.

In all honesty – what has happened to the pommy from row? I ave always though Sherridan was over rated but I used to rate Vickery highly.

Typical France. They didn’t play particularly well against Wales and yet look at the press response. They’re an average team with a woefully inept coach and this is the result.

Caveman not quick enough for number 7 and their 14 looks like he can hardly run.

BTW – Pommy front row is poo.

And why Hodgson is a great bet for a match like this. Cipriani seems determined not to make any friends, doesn’t he? Mike Catt gave him no quarter with his response to the handshake refusal.

Borthwick should not be in the team. That is the simple fact. He affects the entire composition: the ruck, the scrum, the breakdown and the lineout. Other than him Sheridan, Kennedy, Croft, Haskell and Rees are probably some of the best athletes in European rugby, so there isn’t a long-term issue, more a selection issue.

I also can’t see France “losing it” either Hayden. The generic, accepted view win the southern hemisphere is that France are brilliant and bad. They’re not. Apart from Medard, Heymans and Harinordoquy they are a team of plodders. They were atrocious against Scotland, and beat Wales with an iron will rather than golden hands and all of a sudden France are great one more. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised were France to win, but IMO they are in the same position as England.

It’s an interesting area this because I feel it’s because the likes of Borthwick and Easter aren’t powerful enough. Ryan Jones is fairly slow, but at his best, he clears out the rucks and does the donkey work. Compare that to Andy Powell who is quick and powerful, but never enters or clears out a ruck, this could be a technical or tactical issue.

Anyway, onto the selections and I think the players coming in were the right calls, but the players going out were wrong. It should have been Shaw for Borthwick (but Johnson is never going to drop his captain) and Croft for Easter, with Haskell moveing to eight. The thing about dropping Kennedy is that he’s superb in the lineout and has improved in the loose and tight exchanges. Shaw has been put in to add some ballast to the pack, which I think is a correct move. He also has great handling skills. However, he wont last for long, so in the summer, Johnson should be thinking about giving the likes of Peter Short of Bath, or perhaps even Sean Cox of Sale, who before his injury was looking very promising. The likes of Chris Jones and Dean Schofield are also good alround athletes, who add grunt to the pack, but then again I am biased.

Going back to the selected England team and Croft has been added for his pace and power in the loose, but also his lineout, which is excellent. Personally I would have liked to have seen Tait starting for Tindall and Cipriani or Hodgson (again biased opinion, but he is the form fly-half in the GP and has been for the last two seasons – defence has improved as well) on the bench