Poor performance England have this habit it seems of having the wrong attitude when they know they can beat a team half assed.

I remember 1 particular night leaving the Quins Post pub (situated at the traffic lights on ferguson drive ) ,with 8 of us in my 2 door mk 1 escort ,drove to the tiger club house, where I was sat at a table with 13 pairs of gleaming white teeth ( thats all I could see when they cut the lights and put the neons on ) top night

all when I was 17 as well, with the drinking age at 21

I've always thought there should be 4 clubs in London - West, Easts, Norths & Souths.

But then we'd have more clubs than supporters in London.

Actually that would not be a bad idea, as a goal for 10 years from now. North London (Skolars) South London (Storm), West London (Broncos) and East London (Admirals) would create a real set of local derbies, and maybe attract the crowds.

But for this moment we have to work to make one London SL club financially viable, and then move on to creating a second London SL club.

We're struggling to establish a market for one club down south let alone 4.
If England are to improve then they need consistent international quality opposition.

IMO the focus in the years leading up to the next world cup should be on doubling the number of french and Welsh professional players.

For the life of me i cant ever imagine the Aussies & NZ putting in such a bad performance at a WC.

Abysmal showing from both sides. Lack of skill all over the park.

France beat GB in 1990.

Just got back and I can't say I'm encouraged for next week. The halfbacks and hookers were poor and offered very little direction. I backed McIlorum yesterday on here but that effort wasn't good enough. There is very little point playing him unless your going to let him play the full 80. His strengths lie in his aggression, toughness and workrate over a full 80 and he won't impress in the short bursts he's getting.

Aside from him I thought Roby was ok but no more and Sinfield and Chase stank the place out. I also worry about our centres because Cudjoe has gone backwards since the first game and Watkins looks injured to me.

Too late to change much now and I'm afraid we'll reach the end if the line quite abruptly next week.

At least that's progress.

Back on topic i thought the first half was pretty good. Barring a slow first 5 mins we played with patience and composure and took our chances. Everything we didn't do in the second. The amount of possession we had in the first combined with the French loosing 2 interchanges should have allowed us to put another 30 points on in the second.

So why didn't we. Patience and composure. We didn't build pressure, we didn't do the basics and instead tried to score off every set.

I worry about Rangi. There is no doubt he is a talent but i don't think he is a team player. Too many attacks break down from no one being on the same wavelength as him. IMO the best 17 players don't necessarily make the best team but it's probably too late to change the half back pairing now.

How Graham didn't get MOM is beyond me.

As for next week NZ will obviously start as strong favourites and most including myself will expect them to win. However they can be beaten. Firstly we must to the basics right. If we gift field position through penalties and lost ball we will loose. If we get into them and rattle them we have a chance. It's not rocket science, stay disciplined and composed and believe.