A better effort from England in defeat was not enough to save some battered reputations, writes Hugh Godwin in the Independent on Sunday.
"If the autumn series was a World Cup, England would have been knocked out twice, with this fitfully encouraging but ultimately comprehensive defeat added to that by Australia a fortnight ago. Instead it has been something of a phoney war, with a succession of meaningless baubles such as yesterday's Hillary Shield at stake. The genuine prize is the ability to weed out the weak and improve for the battles to come, even if for Martin Johnson it may feel like picking the diamonds out of the dung."
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