England travel to Scotland this week on the brink of a crisis. From those promising beginnings against Wales, which went some way to erasing the memories of an awful autumn series, the team has regressed according to Paul Ackford in the Sunday Telegraph.
"Against Italy, the side flared brightly in the opening quarter only to fade to constipation, and last week's effort against Ireland merely confirmed that England still find tries disturbingly hard to come by.
"Worse, several key individuals are in decline. Nick Easter, James Haskell, Lewis Moody and Dylan Hartley, hard-edged and productive in the first week of the championship, played poorly against Ireland, and there is, as yet, no evidence that a midfield of Riki Flutey and Mathew Tait can discover the empathy and wherewithal to break down defences. In terms of marks out of 10 for delivering steady improvement, England barely rate a lowly four, and that's generous."
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