Oh the pain. I still don’t think I can quite believe what I saw on Saturday night at the Millennium Stadium, it was pretty much total one-way traffic and although my head and gut instinct were expecting a Welsh win I don’t think anyone would have predicted such a hammering.
One aspect of the result that sticks in my throat somewhat is the accusation leading into the game from certain parts of English arrogance.
There was none that I saw (stupid Twitter comments from Austin Healey apart) in the build-up and certainly plenty of praise from England fans for a fabulous Welsh performance afterwards.
It’s a shame therefore that certain parts of the Welsh media and a minority of Welsh supporters cannot win with the same humility that England have shown.
Far from England being arrogant that claim ought to be levelled at some of the Welsh corner, fortunately it is only a minority.
In the build-up I predicted it would be tight – it wasn’t.
I predicted that Wales would win but only by a small margin – they didn’t.
It was a record score and that really is tough to take from an England fan’s perspective.
I thought England would fare better in the set-piece but they were awful at the scrum and Wales excelled.
Adam Jones proved again that he is a world-class loosehead even though he doesn’t look like one!
In hindsight, England should have started with Dylan Hartley and Mako Vunipola, they are both better scrummagers than Joe Marler and Tom Youngs and the edge that Wales got at scrum time was telling, it gave them a huge psychological boost.
The England scrum fell on the wrong side of the interpretation of referee Steve Walsh.
I have yet to be convinced that he is an international referee, which is putting it mildly; however it would be total folly for the England team and supporters to lay the blame at his feet.
Let’s face the facts, England were comprehensively played off the park in almost every department.
There were a few notable performances – skipper Chris Robshaw again battled for 80 minutes against the excellence of Justin Tipruic and Sam Warburton who were simply devastating at the breakdown and in the loose.
As I had feared, the gamble of playing two opensides worked and again showed the lack of balance in England’s back row.
Geoff Parling again had another solid performance to add to his growing reputation but those two apart it really was a demolition job and there few crumbs of comfort for England.
The lack of a cutting edge showed again; on reflection over the whole championship England have looked most threatening against Scotland and that was with Billy Twelvetrees at 12.
I think he gives England more balance and while Brad Barritt has been excellent from a defensive point of view he doesn’t consistently threaten in attack as Twelvetrees does.
England have missed some pace in the back three and Ben Foden has been a key missing ingredient.
Alex Goode has played well defensively, but he again lacks that extra yard of pace so desperately needed at this level.
I think Chris Ashton has now used all of his lives and it is time to look at some fresh faces on the wing.
I have been banging on about the inclusion of Christian Wade now for some time, and he will get his chance in the summer, for England’s attacking sake I hope he takes it.
I would also like to see Jonny May from Gloucester to be given an opportunity, from what I have seen in the Premiership so far he looks like the real deal to me.
Wales have been transformed over the past few months from a rabble in the autumn to the side I always thought they were capable of being, defending Six Nations champions.
But I would like to sound some caution here for Welsh fans.
They have to take this form and reproduce it against the southern hemisphere teams which they have regularly failed to do.
It is one thing for them to raise their game against England but they must do that against the top-ranked teams.
I think they are capable of being genuine contenders in the 2015 World Cup but to do so they must address their mental block of competing against the top sides.
North deal would be huge coup for Saints
Of all the rumours doing the rounds at the moment in terms of potential summer moves and transfers, the one that has excited me the most is the possibility of seeing George North in a Saints shirt next season.
It is sad that this opportunity has arisen due to the financial problems faced by the Welsh regions, but to get the winger’s signature on a contract at Franklin’s Gardens would be a huge coup.
Now that his agent has gone public about the approach, I am sure Saints will not be the only team knocking at his door and I would imagine there are some very large cheque books being opened in France.
I am somewhat cynical that his agent has gone public as it could be a ploy to drive up the asking price and if that happens Saints could be priced out of that market.
I understand that North doesn’t really want to leave Scarlets but the finances of the situation may just mean he has little choice, let’s hope from Saints’ perspective that he doesn’t want to travel too far from home and he is not lured by the money over the Channel.
Wasps game a massive one for play-off chasing Saints
After a fortnight break Saints are back in action this weekend at Wasps and it is a massive game in terms of their top-four ambitions.
A win will further distance the Saints from the chasing pack but it will not be easily earned at Adams Park where Wasps have in recent months re-discovered some of their home form that won them the titles in their pomp.
Finally, good luck to the Old Scouts U-13s who are in the East Midlands Cup final this week against Peterborough, if you want to see some start of the future then head over the Kettering on Sunday for what promises to be a great game.