In the dying minutes at Twickenham on Saturday, England were clinging on.
And, when Maro Itoje found his third turnover and the final whistle was blown, that is exactly where they find themselves in this Championship — clinging on.
“There are three teams that can win it now and we are one of them,” Eddie Jones declared proudly after the win over Wales. “We’re in a good position. We’re in charge of our own destiny.”
Jones is correct. Beat both France and Ireland with four-try bonus points, while not allowing their opponents bonus points of their own, and England win the Championship.
The trouble is that on the evidence so far, such an idea is wishful.
England have scored just one try against each of Scotland and Wales, and would need a significant rise in performance to even contemplate beating Ireland at Twickenham in a fortnight, let alone France in Paris a week later. If it gets as close as points difference, their rivals already hold the advantage.
With their toughest tests still lying in wait, Jones’s side are making heavy weather of the Six Nations again, but he seems more bothered about development for next year’s World Cup than the here and now, which is difficult to explain to 82,000 fans paying a princely sum to watch a work in progress.
There is much still to do, especially in attack, but there were pleasing elements for England’s pack on Saturday.
In the loose, props Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler were everywhere.
Itoje, who was typically outstanding, and Courtney Lawes provided immense physicality, even if they missed Tom Curry when he went off with a head injury. That work will continue at a short camp in Bristol this week. Jones will be without Manu Tuilagi again, but hopes to have the centre back to face Ireland. Luke Cowan-Dickie will also be absent with a knee injury expected to keep him out for the rest of the Championship.
Ireland will travel to Twickenham following a peculiar build-up. They thrashed Wales, performed well in defeat in Paris, then played out arguably their least satisfying Six Nations victory ever over Italy yesterday.
Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli, on his Six Nations debut, was right to send off Italy’s replacement hooker Hame Faiva after 20 minutes, and followed the laws perfectly thereafter.
But, after a nasty injury for Gianmarco Lucchesi, Hame was the one player the game could not afford to lose, as the laws meant Italy had to play out the match with 13 men as a price for uncontested scrums. When Braam Steyn was binned late on, that became 12.
This game would already have been a mismatch, and Ireland learned little. Perhaps they should have scored more than nine tries, but Italy defended bravely. Key Irishmen will not have played for a month by Twickenham, while Johnny Sexton will have had 27 minutes in six weeks. That said, Ireland’s players are used to delicate management that can produce such situations.
The Twickenham support left relieved on Saturday night. If the same is true in 12 days, and England have clung on for a win, Jones’s team will finally be showing some of the development he craves.
