6 hours ago
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England have the ability to win all four of their November Tests and they have ticked the first of those boxes after their opening victory over Australia.
Steve Borthwick's side were the better team and deserved victors. They can be happy enough, knowing however that they can still improve significantly.
And they will have to if they are to beat New Zealand later this month. The big area to work on and learning with the All Blacks in mind is the breakdown.
England weren't accurate enough at the contact area. In total, they conceded 13 penalties. Australia offered little as an attacking threat, but they stole back possession six times at the breakdown. To a degree, you could expect a degree of rust from England given this was their first game and they had not had that much preparation time.
To that end, a final score of 25-7 represents a convincing win.
However, Borthwick will know the contact area numbers must improve.
England have the ability to win all four of their November Tests after an impressive opening victory against Australia
They have ticked their first box and can now kick on - if one crucial flaw is fixed
He admitted as much in the post-match press conference. 'We didn't do our jobs well enough. We have some work to do in that area this week,' Borthwick said.
Australia weren't able to punish England's inaccuracies and Fiji are unlikely to trouble them next week either. But you can get your bottom dollar the All Blacks will.
I'm not sure the refereeing of the breakdown was influenced by the pre-match antics over England pointing out supposed Australian illegalities.
I think Australian head coach Joe Schmidt was right to describe it as 'gamesmanship' by England.
Borthwick and his players must focus on improving the key areas of their game rather than worrying about supposed lawbreaking from their opposition.
If England can't get clean possession against New Zealand, they won't be able to win. It must be an area of focus for Borthwick and his coaching staff in the build-up to that game over the next fortnight. I've always maintained that to be a World Cup-winning team, your penalty count across 80 minutes must be in the single figures. The 13 conceded against Australia was too many. At the same time, too many of those 13 came at the breakdown.
England had a kick-dominated game plan and that was savvy considering the impact rain had on the conditions.
But even with that, they only won 59 rucks and lost eight of those. To be the team they want to be, England need to retain possession for long periods, stress defences and score as a result.
England have it in them to beat the All Blacks too, but the big area to work on is the breakdown
They can't do that with breakdown inaccuracies.
Their killer instinct and ruthless conversion of opportunities can also take a step forward.
While there is one big area to work on, there are also lots of positives. To beat one of the southern hemisphere's big three by 18 points knowing you can still get a lot better is a good position to be in.
One thing I think England can be very pleased with is their physicality. Their intensity was very good.
Being at Twickenham and watching this team up close and personal, you can see how strong they are in the carry. At half time, England should have been further clear.
Their lead was only 10-7 despite Australia offering very little in attack.
But in the second half, there was significant impetus brought from the bench. For England to be able to bring on five forward replacements – all of whom were Lions in the summer – shows the strength in depth Borthwick has at his disposal.
Henry Pollock was one of those. He was excellent, as were Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge and Tom Curry.
To be a World Cup-winning team, your penalty count across 80 minutes must be in the single figures
To beat one of the southern hemisphere's big three by 18 points knowing you can still get a lot better, though, is a good position to be in
England's back-row resources are quite astonishing.
When the likes of Pollock came on, England upped their already strong intensity to a whole new level again.
Australia didn't have an answer. Pollock is the sort of player and individual who can add an extra layer to any team just through his sheer force of personality.
He is effervescent, a bundle of vibrant energy and a wonderful asset to this England team.
Pollock certainly proved his worth against Australia, even if he would have been disappointed to have received a late yellow card. In just two games for England, both of which have seen him start as a replacement, Pollock has three tries in only 36 minutes of action. That's impressive by anyone's book.
England will also know there are strides to make in attack. The tries for Ben Earl and Pollock came from contestable kicks that were both won back brilliantly in the air by Tom Roebuck.
The selection of England's back-line suggested they would go with a heavy kicking game through the likes of Alex Mitchell and George Ford and so it proved.
What that did mean was that the outside backs didn't get that much ball in open play.
Being able to bring Lions players off the bench showed England's outstanding strength in depth, too
Despite him having a quiet game, England must – and I mean must – continue with Tommy Freeman at outside centre. Freeman was quiet in attack, but that was not his fault.
England didn't really get the chance to cut loose.
But it would be a total waste to revert back to a player other than Freeman in the No 13 jersey.
He will get better and better the more time he spends in that jersey.
Fiji are next up for England. The forwards who made such a big impact against Australia will be pushing hard to start, especially Genge and Cowan-Dickie. But for me, I'd keep Pollock as a replacement for now despite the impressive nature of his Wallabies cameo. Borthwick is a consistent selector – and that is a good thing – so I'd be incredibly surprised if he ripped up his team for the Pacific Islanders.
He will know that while Fiji shouldn't trouble his team, they are a very dangerous outfit who can cause trouble.
Indeed, Fiji beat Borthwick's England at Twickenham in a warm-up clash ahead of the 2023 World Cup.
Borthwick won't have forgotten that and I'm sure he will ram home that message to his players.
England have now won eight games in a row - that run should go to nine before facing the All Blacks
England have now won their last eight matches. That run should go to nine against Fiji and then it's the All Blacks.
That game will define the success of England's autumn campaign.
It's one they are capable of winning, so long as they tidy up certain areas and continue their upward trajectory.
