Ireland game could be 'line in sand' for England

England's autumn win over Japan was a one-sided affair and there wasn’t a huge amount of upside for Steve Borthwick's side.

Those games are difficult to get motivated for because of what has gone on before with the defeats by New Zealand, Australia and South Africa but I thought there were some good individual performances, some nice bits of continuity and set-piece dominance.

The trouble is with those types of games, you are just not functioning at the level you were last week.

I’m hoping there will be a lot for England to take from their victory and there is no reason why they can’t take some parts into the big games.

That is what defines the best teams and the best individuals.

Is Tommy Freeman throwing that pass behind his back for a game-winning try against South Africa?

I would encourage him to do so.

It looks fancy and risky but these guys have incredible skills and I would like to see more of it.

There were lots of positives but that is not going to be across the main debrief of the four weeks in the autumn. Unfortunately, it will be around the defence.

Again, it was not to the level against Japan where England could expect to beat the likes of South Africa as the benchmark.

I wouldn’t bin the blitz defence as a whole.

All the best blitz defence teams know when to apply it and ramp it up and when to dial it down. When you are running up at full speed it is very difficult to change direction and the subtleties of adaptation in your defensive line is really tricky.

When it is done really well and you are in control of the ruck speed it is just all consuming and very difficult to break down. The main issue I have with the way England are trying to defend, is they are trying to do it all the time.

International attacks are too good and a very average Japan side caused England half a dozen moments of trouble in defence and made them look really shabby.

It needs a little bit of flexibility and to adapt. The team needs to understand when they can be less aggressive in defence but still have the same outcome. They only need to look at how New Zealand defended against Ireland in the World Cup quarter-final last year.

They were fast out of the blocks and then drifted, inviting the opposition to run a move and then snuffed it out.

It will come in time and new defence coach Joe El-Abd hasn’t been there that long but I wouldn’t chuck the baby out with the bathwater just yet.

Fin Smith impressed when he came off the bench, but if I was coming on at fly-half during England's four autumn games, the last 20 minutes against Japan would be top of my list to play.

Japan had just been beaten up and are out of the game.

Good fly-halves are watching and analysing the game the whole time. There is no question Fin Smith is a very talented fly-half and I would have loved to watch him run the show but he is up against it at the moment because it is a very big decision to say Marcus Smith is not going to play at 10.

Maybe this is the beginning of the battle of the Smiths going forward. Fin is a slightly different player and seems to be more strategic rather than individual but Marcus has been at the core of a lot of the things that have gone right in this autumn series.

It is a really nice dilemma for Borthwick to have but I think it is fair Fin gets the opportunity to play and I think the head coach will benefit from seeing Fin start the game at 10 because it will give them the opportunity to play differently.

Marcus has been England's star player over the autumn. He is a very level-headed individual who will be no doubt ripping his performances apart and will want to be that fly-half that finishes games off.

I would be expecting him to come back a better player in the Six Nations as he has proven in this Autumn Nations Series. He is a better player than he was last year.

I think the Six Nations can't come soon enough for England.

With their results at home, a lot of people may be thinking it’s going to be a tough tournament for Borthwick’s team.

But I think these England players will just want to play and will probably want to start next week. They can feel their momentum building and the proof will be in the pudding as time goes by. If England spend a bit more time on their structure in defence and their systems, I’m expecting them to have a big Six Nations.

Yes it is a huge game first up against Ireland, playing away against one of the top sides in the world, but it could be a line in the sand and a real starting point for England.

They have proven they can put themselves in position to win these big games. I don’t think Ireland are quite the same team they were 18 months ago and you have to bear in mind what happened at Twickenham this year when they last met each other.

Everything says Ireland will win that game but if England can bring all of those positives together and get the bounce of the ball or the odd call and they end up winning the game then maybe that will be the launchpad.

Overall, I think it will be a positive reflection on the autumn. They will be disappointed by the Australia game because that was in their grasp but the style of rugby England are playing is making the fans enjoy watching them and come out in their droves.

Nobody in the history of sport has just stepped into a legend's boots and it's all gone brilliantly into the next iteration of Dan Carter, Jonny Wilkinson or Johnny Sexton.

There has to be an element of patience. Ireland have three nice fly-halves but Sam Prendergast looks like he is slightly more effortless in how he plays the game.

He creates time for his team-mates and is very different to Sexton.

I think Ireland have a tricky transition going into the Six Nations because head coach Andy Farrell won't be around. They will know they haven't absolutely clicked in the autumn but in the same breath, there were parts against Fiji where it felt like they were just getting back into their rhythm and their timing.

Scotland, meanwhile have to be among the favourites to win the Six Nations. It will be interesting to see how the fixtures suit them as they have to play England at Twickenham.

Australia started to flag on Sunday but I think Scotland made them look leggy. They looked pretty ruthless at times, building the scoreboard.

Finn Russell's game understanding is going through the roof and where and how they play is starting to come together.

For Wales, unfortunately, I don’t see what is going to change in a couple of months.

They just don’t seem to have any strength in depth in their squad. Some players have played OK but you are not looking at any of them and thinking they are someone being mentioned by the opposition in a briefing before a game.

It will come, and there is plenty of time until the next World Cup in 2027, but going into the Six Nations, I just think Wales have a battle on their hands.