England will be the team to beat when Six Nations begins

Six Nations grand slam, plus Nations Championship victories against South Africa and Fiji and England would head to Argentina next July having equalled their record run of 18 wins, in pursuit of No 19. Sounds simple, but there’s more chance of Steve Borthwick busting his best moves in England’s next viral TikTok video than him entertaining any thought of record runs.

- Gerard Meagher

That is not to criticise, because even though Borthwick is allergic to looking too far ahead, doing so would be to get drastically carried away. The point here is that the more England keep winning, and they will enter the Six Nations next year as the team to beat after 11 on the trot, the more expectation increases.

We got a glimpse of it just before halftime against Argentina. England were 17-3 ahead having barely got out of second gear when George Ford opted to kick a penalty at goal.

He missed and when presented with an easier shot a minute later he was told to kick to the corner. It was Luke Cowan-Dickie who implored him to do so - the hooker scoring a disallowed try from the subsequent lineout - but it was apparently a decision based on the need to inject urgency into England’s performance.

In 2026, England will learn that 14-point leads against teams as dangerous as Argentina are not enough to engage their supporters if they are not playing with the intent they have shown they can.