SIX NATIONS / RUGBY

I have seen both the Wales v England and England v France games.

There seems to be a general wailing and gnashing of teeth at the state of English rugby at present. I would like to offer a couple of thoughts....

1. During the first year of Woodwards reign England got thumped by all and sundry as he experimented with his players to find a team that could play the way he wanted them to play. Robinson is merely doing the same.

2. England were 1 score away from winning both games, and outscored France 2 tries to 0 (the measure by which the whinging Aussies and Kiwis seem to measure games when their kickers have a bad day). At no point did France look threatening. Yes we had a bad kicking day and let France off the hook, but experience will help both Hodgson and Barkley in the future, plus in the wings there is not only Jonny Wilkinson but also Andy Goode, who kicked 11 from 11 last weekend in Leicester's 83-10 rout of Newcastle having starred the previous weekend for England A in their defeat of France A.

3. The World Cup is 2 years away. The raw 23 and 24 year olds of today will have 20 caps or more each to their names by the time it comes round and be a totally different prospect to today.

Long and short of it is we are likely to have a rough year, and may well lose again this weekend against Ireland, but I am far from despondent. Wilkinson and Hill are on their way back and will lend authority and experience to a side that I believe has great potential. I agree that at present we are not the side we were, and the Kiwis and South Africans both have reasonable claims to the number 1 slot on current form, but I am quietly optimistic that we have the strength in depth to get re-emerge when it counts as a front-runner.

The future's bright.

The future's white.