The England team Eddie Jones sends out today has a balance of pace and power, size and creativity.
Enough familiarity to it to convince me it can play well. Enough freshness to suggest it is a team that can move forward.
Two selections stand out for me: Danny Care at scrum-half and Courtney Lawes as captain ahead of Owen Farrell. I applaud both.
Players getting towards the end of their careers know the most they’re ever going to know about the game, but just at the point where their body starts to let them down a little bit.
Care has been the most comfortable version of himself in the Premiership over the last two years; in complete control, playing at a level well above club rugby.
He knows he’s an international player of high quality, a scrum-half playing all the right notes and in the right order. The fact he’s 35 is neither here nor there.
If he can transfer that confidence and assurance back onto the international stage England will enjoy the double benefit of a tone and tempo setter who brings even more out of Marcus Smith.
My experience of playing fly-half for England with a clubmate at nine was that it saved crucial time in decision making, where every split-second counts.
With Matt Dawson alongside me we knew instinctively how one another thought and worked. Daws would know what I was planning before I moved.
It bought us time, freed up a bit of head space.
Marcus and Danny have that same understanding at Harlequins. I’m excited at what they can bring to an England attack which for too long has misfired.
As for Lawes, I feel allowing him to keep the armband is a no-brainer. He’s been England’s outstanding forward for a number of years. Clearly his style of leadership suits the team.
That is not to decry Owen in any way, but I do feel freeing him from that extra responsibility will help his game.
This is an enormous series for England, a year out from the World Cup. They have had two horrible Six Nations but one-off performances, short bursts of intensity as opposed to long periods of development, seem to suit their mentality.
Straight out the box it’s difficult to perform but I like the look of this England. It feels a sensible team to me. Incredibly tight. I take them to sneak it by two.
