An committed yet unimaginative draw with Scotland says a lot about England, and not just under Martin Johnson according to Eddie Butler in The Guardian.
"There was a time in the 1990s when England very nearly cut loose. But do you remember that when they tried, unscripted, their hand at running rugby in the World Cup final of 1991, they failed because they were more conditioned by the style of Rob Andrew than Jeremy Guscott? Even when they were very, very good, England were never at ease with freedom of expression.
"The same thing happened in 2003. The Six Nations grand slam of that year was claimed with a 20-minute burst of genius in Dublin, soon followed on the summer tour by a first-half of flowing beauty in Melbourne. And then the shutters came down.
"And that's where they have stayed. No wonder Brian Ashton lost his job. England is not a natural home for adventurous rugby. Even in the days of the 1970s when they had David Duckham and John Spencer in their midfield, what made England special was their absolute refusal to give their centres of excellence the ball. Frustration at the England style is nothing new."
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