5 Truths from Twickenham: England turn on the style, bring on the All Blacks

With the Six Nations Championship up for grabs at Twickenham, England played with flair and flamboyancy as they demolished Scotland.

It was in stark contrast to the previous three games where Eddie Jones had relied on his ‘finishers’ from the bench to grind out results, most notably against France and Wales.

Sure, Scotland were a shadow of the team that dispatched Ireland and Wales in this year’s championship but England showed that they are most certainly a team for the big occasion as they equalled New Zealand’s world record for consecutive wins.

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The wait goes on. It’s now 35 years and counting since the Scots last tasted victory at Twickenham.

Scotland were the creators of their own downfall after Fraser Brown was sent to the sin-bin after just a few minutes.

During those ten minutes, England plundered 10 points courtesy of Jonathan Joseph’s first of three tries and a conversion and penalty from the excellent Owen Farrell.

Add ill-discipline to that, with 11 penalties conceded, and the Scots were always in big trouble.

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Three tries, one assist and Man of the Match. Finally, the real Jonathan Joseph is back!

The Bath man has been struggling for form this season but he looked back to his dazzling best as he annihilated opposite number Huw Jones at Twickenham.

With Owen Farrell a dead cert at No 12, Joseph has put forward a strong case to retain his spot for the Grand Slam decider in Dublin next weekend.

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Arise Sir Eddie? Ok, maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves but you can’t deny that the Australian has made quite the impact since replacing Stuart Lancaster after the 2015 World Cup.

Back-to-back Six Nations Championships, with the potential for consecutive Grand Slams against Ireland next weekend and a series whitewash Down Under. What more could you ask for?

Add to that a fearsome will to win and insatiable team spirit and, dare we say it, England look like genuine World Cup contenders at Japan 2019.

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Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Wales … England have beaten all-comers in the past year but the one team missing off that list?

New Zealand.

The All Blacks are still the benchmark for all rugby nations and for England to be considered a truly great side, they need to test themselves against the best in the business.

There’s no doubt England are the form team in international rugby right now but until they pit themselves against Kieran Reid and co, nobody knows just how good they really are.