Good for us if Laporte hangs in there

Talking to a friend before Sunday's encounter between England and France, we came to the conclusion that from an Irish (and Welsh) perspective a narrow, scabby win for England might have been the best outcome. In the event, France pilfered one of the scabbiest wins of all time, which still seems the second most preferable outcome

We shall see. In any event, by dint of France's victory, Charlie Hodgson, Olly Barkley and co have ensured the first part of the desired equation, namely ensuring that Bernard Laporte remains in situ. One of the fears for Wales and/or Ireland over the next two weekends was that France would have been beaten out the gate at Twickenham, as might easily have happened had England put 14 or 17 points of daylight between the sides before the last half-hour; Laporte then would have faced the guillotine and a new coach would have galvanised waning French spirits.

At the very least, a new coach - whether it be Patrice Lagisquet from Biarritz or Fabien Galthie at Stade Français - might have buried the hatchet with Guy Noves and Toulouse, and actually picked a few players from one of the best club sides on the planet.

Given only Fabien Pelous is deemed worthy of inclusion in their starting line-up, and William Servat was relegated to the bench alongside Frederic Michalak, it is clear Laporte's war of words and strained relationship with Noves is influencing his selections.

Aside from the continuing loyalty to Yann Delaigue, Laporte's stubborn streak is also manifest in the selection of Sebastien Chabal, a barnstorming number eight for Sale Sharks, at openside, and Julien Bonnaire, a roving openside with Bourgoin, at number eight. Not to mention wondering aloud about Servat as a number eight.

More than all that, however, the utter lack of ambition and confidence in France's first 50 minutes or so, coupled with their desultory performance and marginally less lucky win at home to Scotland, betrayed a team that after six years of Laporte's rule had reached a cul-de-sac.

In two games France have put together only one phase of rugby which would bring supporters to the edge of their seats, and created only one attacking platform with even the merest hint of a try. Yet, by dint of one charge-down try against Scotland and beating England from around the 10-metre line, they stand with two wins out of two. Laporte, preposterously, now has nine championship wins in a row. Hardly a case for the sack.

Who knows, it could be that the win at Twickenham - of huge importance to the French mentality - will be a significant turning point in imbuing them with self-belief. With the return of their walking wounded, and given better weather and playing conditions, they are now likely to improve as the campaign progresses.

England come to Lansdowne Road with eight defeats in their last 11 outings, albeit after three successive defeats at a combined aggregate of minus five points. They could easily have been arriving in Dublin with five consecutive wins under Andy Robinson, which shows they remain a much better side than their results would suggest.

That said, the run is in part of his own making. Aside from removing Henry Paul with indecent haste after 25 minutes against Australia, thereby leaving England without a back-up goal-kicker after Hodgson first contracted the yips and then was injured, the selection of Jamie Noon and Mathew Tait in an unbalanced midfield against Wales left them without a kicking game until Barkley's belated introduction nearly steered them to victory.

By the time Robinson realised the error of his ways against France, Hodgson and Barkley let him down. Almost as damaging, not least to the psyche of the England players and supporters, is the often wayward throwing of Steve Thompson. Brilliant though he can be around the paddock, at times Thompson struggles to hit the proverbial barn door, although he'd have little problem clearing it. The thought occurred on Sunday that England would have a better chance of landing three-pointers if Thompson were throwing the penalties at the posts.

Robinson also spoke on the eve of the championship about the need for leaders to emerge from within the team, but this was abundantly not the case as the kicking contest swayed against them in the second period. In a word, they panicked.

With Martin Johnson, Lawrence Dallaglio, Neil Back or even the injured Richard Hill or Will Greenwood on board, they'd certainly have played more territory and kept Dimitri Yachvili out of range. Instead, they compounded the lack of direction with the concession of penalties which ought to have Lewis Moody, especially, squirming in his seat when the video is reviewed.

Hodgson is a player of innate footballing ability but, as with Thompson, Robinson doesn't have many options here. It will only take one missed throw or one missed penalty to spark murmurs in the Lansdowne Road crowd and doubts in the English mindset. But they remain a good side and an extremely wounded one.

Their forwards, especially, went well in a bruising battle with the French on Sunday. The Irish pack, and their maul, will not be able to dominate to the extent they did against the Scots. About the most striking statistic to emerge from Murrayfield was that Scotland were compelled to make only 29 tackles in the whole match - and missed four of them - whereas Ireland were obliged to make 59, and missed eight.

Ireland need more strings to their bow, and it would help no end if Messrs O'Driscoll and D'Arcy were around to increase the opposition's tackle count, though it would still be a bonus if either of them made it and, if it's deemed the right course of action this week, one wonders why they weren't in Polish ice chambers last week.

But, either way, Eddie O'Sullivan, who came up with the perfect gameplan again last Saturday, will no doubt dance with different ladies at the next ball. That's why he gets paid the big bucks.