By by Gary Watton
March 10 2014

England fan and blogger Garry gives his view on England's progress.

 After the spectacular near-misses of 2011 and 2013 when England fell 
at the final hurdle of their grand slam attempts, many of us have not
unnaturally been a little sceptical about whether the ‘class of 2014′
is the real deal. Well, arch-sceptic that I have been, I am now a
convert to the gathering belief that John Bull’s current XV look like
a European superpower again and as a dark horse for World Cup glory
next year. Admittedly, some of us raved about the merits of the Welsh
twelve months ago, and now their hallowed bunch look considerably less
potent. Therefore, any pronouncements about the dawning of a new
golden era for English rugby are liable to produce the kiss of death.

Nevertheless this young man was quite bowled over by England’s
impressive shift against the next-door neighbours. While the narrow,
though far from convincing, triumph over Ireland was a step in the
right direction as it demonstrated that this young team could overcome
a more experienced outfit in a close contest, the win over the
reigning champions was achieved with much to spare.

In fact, were it not for the formidable kicking boots of Leigh
Halfpenny, then the hosts would have won by the proverbial cricket
score.

There is much to enthuse about England’s efforts this spring
afternoon. The team oozed confidence, clearly intent on not fluffing
their lines and ‘choking’ as they abjectly did in Dublin in 2011 and
in Cardiff in 2013. Stuart Lancaster spoke afterwards of how important
it was that his fast-developing team played without fear. Indeed they
did. Everybody wanted the ball. Everybody had their share of the ball.
Everybody even made good use of the ball – an appraisal that couldn’t
be ascribed to their misfiring opponents. Yes England are dead keen on
playing expansive rugby and this is only achievable if they have the
personnel to do so. It remains to be seen whether May and Nowell can
emulate the Underwoods and become prolific finishers.

England's Joe Marler is tackled by Wales Rhys Webb  All Pictures Empics

The signs however are encouraging. England’s latest wing wizards are
fleet-footed elusive runners, and in harness with the red-hot Mike
Brown, England just might have assembled a special back division
again. In addition, the expert kick from Twelvetrees to put Burrell in
at the corner was further cause for optimism. England are so ‘good’
now that they can afford to leave Manu Tuilagi on the bench! He’s a
pretty formidable game-changer to have up your sleeve if and when the
hour of need arises.

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Englands Danny Care

Furthermore, Danny Care looks more enterprising than ever, and his
nose for a gap or opportunity is right up there with such greats as
Roy Laidlaw and vintage Mike Phillips, two players who have always had
great awareness of gaps in the enemy’s defences. Finally, pride of
place must be allocated to big Courtney Lawes whose handling skills
and energy around the park supplement his defensive display. Not only
is he becoming the complete lock forward, but he could easily pass the
audition for an international number 8.

England are belatedly looking the part with ball in hand, and
especially so from broken play, where the menacing Mike Brown
absolutely excels at the counter-attack. This is a major leap forward
for a team whose greatest asset remains the quality of their defence.

England's Mike Brown gets away from Wales Alun Wyn Jones (right)

In three matches against the other home unions, England have conceded
but one paltry try. The reaction of a livid Mike Brown when Rob
Kearney stole in for a try was an indicator of how desperate England
are to keep the opposition from scoring. What impressed me most about
England’s rushed defence was that the dangerous Jamie Roberts
virtually had to take man and ball. It was to England’s credit that
they imitated Ireland and ensured that Jamie did not have much more
than five yards of ‘lebensraum’ in order to build up a head of steam.

Aside from the astute Lancaster doing his homework really well, Chris
Robshaw is leading by example. Chris rarely misses a tackle. He rarely
gets penalised. He also rarely wastes possession.

Perhaps the greatest area of concern is remarkably the scrum, which
could always have been relied upon in good times and bad. However, the
return of Cole and/or Corbisiero will emphatically remedy that
situation!

Are England peaking at just the right time for the forthcoming World
Cup? Or, is the world shindig arriving a year too soon for this
developing team? Or, is the ‘vintage of 2014′ another one-year wonder
that fails to justify the hype and build upon the early promise? Will
they get ‘found out’ in the next year or two? Time will tell. It
always does!