England have started well in the November internationals with their 39 - 13 win over a Pacific Islands XV. There were several positives to take from the game; the performances of players like Delon Armitage, Danny Care and Ugo Monye were superb and some of the older, more experienced guys lead from the front. However, this was a Pacific Islands XV who on the day did not play particularly well and certainly didn't test England the way Australia, South Africa and New Zealand will in the coming weeks.

What did you think of the weekend's game? A great performance? I don't think many will say it is worth the £80 that a ticket costs now thats for sure.......

Wednesday 12th November

I am not sure about the new England team selection. In terms of picking players who are on form and sticking with those, I don't see where Nick Kennedy went wrong to get dropped for this weekend's game against Australia. Tom Palmer has come into the side for him and I think Tom is a good player but I don't think Nick deserved to get dropped from the team, let alone the squad totally. 

The other change comes at prop and being an outside back, I won't claim to know the ins and outs of scrummaging but I would think that they have changed the roles of Matt Stevens and Phil Vickery because Vickery would not have the same impact on the game from the bench as Stevens would.

Australia look strong having reunited Ryan Cross and Stirling Mortlock in the centres but I don't think they will be as strong as the coming Tests against arguably the two best teams in the world. England will have a great chance to beat the Australians at the weekend but they will need to be on top of their game for the full 80 minutes rather than in patches like last weekend against the Pacific Islands. 

Wednesday 19th November

I thought that Martin Johnson would stick with the majority of the side that started the game against the Australians last weekend. James Haskell has been brought in so that there is a strong ball carrier in the back row I think. He will add some power and pace to a back row that has so far not made any massive dents in opposition defences. 

This team is growing and needs time to develop. One thing fans of sports teams sometimes forget is that the team they are supporting may not be as good as the think or indeed want. Over time this England side will develop into one which will be ready to make a charge to the next World Cup but at the moment the building blocks for this team are being put in place and put together. Danny Care and Danny Cipriani look like they have only just started playing together at this level but that is not to say that they won't go on and be one of the best half back pairings around - they will but they require time and some degree of patience too.

The back row are relatively young and will come on to be one of the best in the world I think as there are some great players who are not even in this November international squad.

Martin Johnson may well find that England struggle again this weekend but he will understand what is needed for his team and I am sure he knows time and games played is what is required.

Sunday 23 November

Looks like things are going from bad to worse for some of the players in the England squad and also the management! 

Yesterday's performance was a complete nightmare and showed the lack of confidence of the players in the team, especially in key positions. Danny Care looks like the most relaxed player in the team and he is one of the new faces, his pace is a real threat all the time and he has been playing well I think but as for Golden Danny, he is finding things a but tougher at the moment. Coming back into the team having not played any real rugby since his recovery has meant that he is behind the pace of the game. He is taking far too ling to kick the ball and has had kicks charged down in all of the last test matches. He will recover from this as he is a great player but I think it is about time to give him some time out from the international stage and give someone else a chance. 

Discipline is again causing massive problems and must be acted upon this week as the All Blacks are cruising at the moment and are smashing teams they play without breaking sweat! 

What does Johnson do this week? It's a difficult job that he has as everyone has different opinions about what to do and how to react but I am sure whatever he does he will have thought long and hard about his final decision. The press don't seem to realise this is a building phase for the team and like I wrote the other day, seem to believe that England should be beating all of the teams they have played and this can simply not be the case as they are so far ahead in terms of their player development. Australia were the most similar to England in terms of development but they were still more experienced in key areas.

I hate to think what the score will be this weekend but I hope that things pick themselves up this week and the players put on a far better, more convincing show than the last 2 weeks where they have fallen far short of the skill levels required.

I wish them all the best though as I would love to see them go well against New Zealand; I just can't see it!