"Be careful what you wish for. That would be my message to England supporters getting a little bit ahead of themselves and wishing that South Africa were due at Twickenham on Sunday. By all means get a little carried away that's the beauty of following a team on a winning run and it's a demonstration of the confidence surrounding this England team at the moment but the Springboks can wait until next summer. South Africa remain the standard-bearers in world rugby."
"The set piece has improved immeasurably since Steve Borthwick took over. The lineout wobbled against New Zealand but I expect that will just be a blip. And the scrum is now a genuine force. England had the best scrum in the Six Nations and you look at who is starting in the front row against Argentina Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour and you look at what Borthwick has in reserve and England are now capable of excelling at scrum-time for 80 minutes."
England have closed the gap on the world’s best by improving three hallmarks of great teams: set piece, kick-chasing and breakdown. The set piece has improved markedly under Steve Borthwick, with the scrum now a sustained strength and a deep front-row selection. Lineout inconsistency against New Zealand appears a temporary blip. England lead in successfully chasing kicks and have strengthened breakdown work and floor competitiveness. England sit at No.3 and are the form team among the home nations, positioned as Six Nations favourites alongside France while South Africa aim to finish the year as world No.1.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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