it is amazing what you can achieve in sport ‘in extremis’ and although england didn’t land the championship which they craved, they will have learned a great deal about what can be achieved when you really want it — and need it england were fantastic on saturday and if they can draw from the experience, this can be a fantastic year for english rugby — and indeed british and irish rugby, because wales and champions ireland were quite exceptional as well on the final day of the tournament england cut loose in thrilling fashion and they will never be quite the same players again they know now for certain that there is another level they can perform to and the twickenham crowd know that as well england can hold their heads high and go forward with real confidence after near miss  the shackles really came off and it was really great to watch wales and ireland also found a new level — 211 points in total were scored in the three games —to set what looked like a nigh on impossible target very few pundits would have predicted that england would kick off needing to beat france by 26 points, which was a huge ask but a very useful exercise in concentrating the mind on a very specific task when you feel free to empty the tanks and leave nothing on the pitch ben youngs jumps for joy after scoring the first try of the match on saturday evening  although england started with the encouragement of an early try, they started chasing the big score a little bit too early and got too loose you want the game too open up a little to create space but you still have to remember defensive discipline and in the first 20 minutes england missed nine tackles, which is always going to spell trouble against any french side france nipped in for those two tries from noa nakitaci — even if he was taking the concept of going in under the posts a little far for the second! and that rocked england back a little but they stayed positive and did really well, firstly to get back in the game and then to chase for the title george ford slides on to his right side as he scores england's fourth try of the afternoon  1 there is a chance england’s world cup pool will be decided by points difference games between england, australia and wales are likely to be close which places an onus on big wins over fiji and uruguay 2 the england pack aren’t quite as dominant as we thought they need to go up a gear and the return of joe launchbury and alex corbisiero should help with the england forwards controlling affairs up front — as they did in the last autumn against the aussies — i would be confident of england beating australia 3 england have found their world cup fly half in george ford and pretty much have the back division in place except for the debate over the 12 slot a fit again manu tuilagi would come into the equation as will owen farrell 4 england’s backrow still lacks pace and can look unbalanced lesser teams can be overpowered but is hugely important against the very best the only readymade solution is bringing steffon armitage in but unless the rfu invoke their curious ‘special circumstances’ clause that isn’t going to happen 5 look out for wales they have taken the long view this year and are determined to peak in autumn which is possibly why the intensity wasn’t there against england in february they are beginning to get the bit between their teeth they all stuck with the task superbly well ben youngs was the catalyst for everything good and had a quite stunning game — it was brilliant to watch his second try summed it up perfectly if you look at the replay today you will see that it was youngs who took the quick, surprise line out throw, right back on his line and it was the leicester scrum half who finished off england’s sustained attack 110 yards upfield under the french posts it was inspired play, the stuff of champions and exactly the kind of bold, positive play that will be needed for 80 minutes to win a world cup the crowd got right in behind it all with their support and there was an energy at twickenham i haven’t felt for a while this must be the norm in terms of intensity and atmosphere at every england game from now on ultimately, it wasn’t quite enough, not least because this was the day — and the ‘loose’ occasion — on which france seemed to rediscover their attacking mojo some of their handling and attacking play was out of the top drawer james haskell’s yellow card in the second half didn’t help and towards the end there when england were pressing hard again two line outs went awol small margins but important these are the things that england must still work on but they can hold their heads high and go forward with real confidence jack nowell finishes off another flowing england move to score his country's fifth try against france 
england france saturday stuart lancaster
england cut loose in thrilling fashion against france on saturday . players know now that there is another level they can perform to . coach stuart lancaster can move forward with real confidence 