It could be argued England would want any other game than the one that is coming this weekend. A chance to settle into the Six Nations and find a positive result may have served Steve Borthwick and the team well. However, the schedulers have done England no favours in handing the team back-to-back fixtures against the northern hemisphere’s best. In their opener against Ireland, the scoreline made the game look tight but in all honestly it was far from that. To England’s credit they defended furiously to a man for the majority of the contest, on occasion making the home side look short of answers and their interim head coach Simon Easterby flustered.

However, in any game of rugby, let alone a full-blown Test match, defensive duties empty the lungs and sap the legs. Dominance of possession is so critical at international level, and without the ball comes the high chance of errors. That was the story in Dublin. After a strong start and a half-time lead that made England look as though they had some control, there was always the feeling the cracks would start to appear, and the gulf in class would show.

As England continued with a gameplan of exiting their half and looking to impose their physicality on to Ireland, via a defensive assault, Borthwick’s men found it increasingly difficult to suppress the home team’s attack. As the onslaught continued, England’s key players missed key tackles. An imperious James Lowe set up three tries by bursting through a hole after some smart attack and shrugging off the advances of Alex Mitchell and Tommy Freeman. Bundee Aki, too, bounced off Marcus Smith ten metres out to crash over in the corner.

As the game progressed the fatigue level impacted England’s decision making too. Being poor under high balls, as well as with kicking and the timing of tackles meant a team wanting to sit behind a tactic of kick and defence lost large chunks of territory and invited Ireland’s attack on to them. Borthwick talked of lacking experience from the bench but he picked the team, he removed many of those elder statesmen from the matchday squad and elected to throw younger England players into the Dublin night.

It can be argued the best way to learn is the hard way and this game will make them a better team. The concern is England do seem to be making the same errors, and in doing so inviting the same pain and results. The players should be praised for finding a way to collect a bonus, and in doing so came away with a point that may prove useful as the competition continues. England’s concern is this weekend is now huge as the juggernaut that is France rolls into Twickenham. Facing arguably the best team in the world on their day, with unquestionably the best player in the world in Antoine Dupont, is not what battered and bruised England would have wished for.

France barely got out of second gear against a lacklustre Wales team in winning their first match. England pose a far greater test for the French than Wales did but do not expect France to be too concerned. They have the environment and squad to dominate northern-hemisphere rugby for the next five years. A fluid attack that is so hard to control, alongside a defensive system that not only has a world-class coach in Shaun Edwards, but mountainous humans racing off the line and crashing into you like bowling pins.

It will be a fearsome challenge for England on Saturday, testing every aspect of their game to the limit as they try to snap out of the losing habit. If there is talk of this team becoming an 80-minute side – as was Borthwick’s request when the captaincy was switched from Jamie George to Maro Itoje – then physically and, more importantly, mentally his troops need to find a way of stopping the rot.

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