The mood music around Allianz Stadium is hardly upbeat as England prepare to host Japan.
This has undeniably been a disappointing autumn for Steve Borthwick’s side, with three defeats on the spin following on from two losses in a row against New Zealand in the summer.
Victory over Japan would end that run of five defeats on the bounce, but this Test does have the feel of being a lose-lose match for England, who are 1/100 with some bookmakers.
They will not get many plaudits if they earn the win everyone expects and, should they lose - well, it is hard to imagine what the fallout will be.
Amid the gloom, there have been moments of positivity over the past month. It should not be forgotten that England were the width of a post away from beating New Zealand and also seconds away from defeating Australia.
Marcus Smith’s performances have also been a joy to watch, with the fly-half showing how he should have the keys to England’s backline for the long-term.
Borthwick has largely stuck by his side for this clash with Japan, which a month ago may have been viewed as a chance to blood newcomers.
Not now, though. England need a win and Borthwick has made just two changes from the side that lost to South Africa last week. Tom Curry is back in the side after concussion and starts at blindside flanker instead of Chandler Cunningham-South. George Furbank returns at full-back in place of Freddie Steward.
But most exciting of all, is the inclusion of prop Asher Opoku-Fordjour on the bench. The 20-year-old is in line to make his debut against Japan and, if anyone can lift the mood, it is him.
Opoku-Fordjour is a rare breed. He can scrum down on either side of the front row, while he has shown to be a dangerous ball carrier in the loose. There are not many 18stone blokes who can side step like Opoku-Fordjour. In fact, there are not many 18stone blokes who can side step full stop, if we are being honest.
“He is doing things that I haven’t seen 18 or 19 year olds do before,” Alex Sanderson, Sale Sharks director of rugby, said towards the end of last year.
“That’s just in the scrum and then you look at his power. He is a prop with fast twitch, a tighthead with fast twitch. You just don’t get them. They are as rare as teddy bear s**t.
“Where is his limit? I don’t think we have even seen it yet. We are making that noise about him because I think he deserves it.”
The hype around Opoku-Fordjour will ramp up if he takes his club form onto the international stage. The gap is certainly there for him to exploit, with England in need of new props following the international retirements of Joe Marler and Mako Vunipola. Dan Cole, whose place on the bench Opoku-Fordjour has taken, is 37.
“He (Opoku-Fordjour) is a prop who can play both sides of the scrum and that is a huge asset,” Borthwick said.
“His first training session here he side-stepped two players and made a line break. He has a point of difference. When I speak to Joe Marler and Dan Cole, and talk about some of the best props around, they give me a recommendation of Asher. So he is a young prop with a brilliant future.
“The game’s getting faster, we want to play faster, we want to play with real ambition and courage with the ball. We want to be aggressive with the ball. To do that you need to have athleticism.
“You’ve seen the best teams in the world have incredible athleticism. Ash has proven at Premiership level that he can scrum really well. Now it’s about making the step up to Test level.”
If Opoku-Fordjour hits the ground running against Japan, there is no reason why he can’t be England’s present, as well as their future.
