England Rugby Cap Navy Six Nations

England Rugby Scrum Half Richard Hill commented. Ireland was without doubt the hardest game. They broke up our rhythm more than any other team managed. When we played Wales we put a strangle-hold on them. It was a similar story against Scotland. When we dominated territorially. You don’t feel so much pressure when you are camped in the opposition’s half. But the Irish gave us a lot of scary moments. Although we started well. They came back strongly, put a lot of high balls on us and rattled us. They didn’t let us settle into our game plan and that was worrying.

And so to Twickenham and France. All England expected a certain amount of expansion in their team’s approach but Hill says: ‘Throughout the season conditions have dictated the style; they have not been ideal for running rugby. But we make no excuses for playing the way we have done. We wanted to win.