Jason Robinson: Don’t blow it, England, we need the Grand Slam

Action: Maro Itoje celebrates after England had won a penalty at the scrum
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Jason Robinson14 March 2016

Eddie Jones and his players will not be happy unless they finish the job and claim England’s first Grand Slam since 2003. These opportunities do not come around very often and defeat to France on Saturday would be a real downer for everyone.

After all the hard work put in by the coaches and players, they need to enjoy the experience of winning the Grand Slam, something I was fortunate to achieve 13 years ago. It was vital that England bounced back after the disappointment of the World Cup and they have just one hurdle to clear.

France, as always, have players to cause trouble, but they don’t have any cohesion and England’s focus must be on how they themselves are going to play. I am much happier going for a Grand Slam in Paris rather than having to win it in Wales or Ireland.

Jones deserves a big pat on the back because he came into the job with a lot of pressure but made the right calls and got the players working for him. He has delivered in his first tournament and we have already won the Triple Crown and the Championship.

Sometimes you have to endure the bad times to enjoy the good ones and the World Cup was a big kick up the backside. Jones has breathed new life into the team and I know that his predecessor Stuart Lancaster addressed the issue of culture, but what is clear is that the squad are playing with confidence. They have the hunger needed at international level, although I don’t believe they were as bad as they were portrayed immediately after the World Cup.

What was different on Saturday was that England had a game plan that was based on what they could do. In the World Cup they went into the game with Wales basing everything around what the opposition were going to do.

All the pre-match talk about Jamie Roberts running down the outside-half channel on Saturday didn’t materialise, particularly in the first half, and the same was true at the breakdown where the Welsh back row was very quiet.

England were energised all over the pitch. We played in the Welsh half for seemingly all the first 55 minutes and took our opportunities through Owen Farrell’s exceptional kicking. When I played, we had a guy called Jonny Wilkinson who would keep the scoreboard ticking over, which makes such a difference, and I was shocked for England to be 16-0 up at half-time.

England vs Wales player ratings

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Jones admitted he probably got it wrong with all the replacements late in the game and Wales, who had been woeful until the final 20 minutes, then showed what they could do. That proves England are not the finished article and there is still so much more to come from the team, which is very exciting.

England have had consistency in selection and performance and while Manu Tuilagi made an impact with that important tackle on George North at the end of the game, I would keep faith with the guys who started against Wales and have him ready to come off the bench again in Paris. It was good to see Manu back on the pitch and the fact he dealt with a big unit like North with some ease was encouraging.

Manu probably needs more game time but Jones is saying to the guys who have the jerseys that if they don’t deliver then there is a player ready on the bench where England have a lot of talent.

Scotland’s win over France has done England a favour but now let’s get that elusive Grand Slam which will give us huge confidence for the three Tests in Australia in the summer.

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Itoje such a threat and can become one of the best

Maro Itoje was outstanding and I don’t have any concerns about the young forward being able to handle whatever France throw at him.

He has just come through a massive test against Alun-Wyn Jones and Bradley Davies, two big men with lots of international experience. Itoje is a real unit, never seems to get frustrated or flustered and has a huge work rate.

Young players do come onto the scene and can be built up quickly. There is a difference between a good player and a great one and you don’t become great in just one season — it takes consistent performances over years.

Itoje is only going to get better and can, potentially, become one of the best if he can deliver week in, week out. If you were watching Itoje (left, taking the ball in a line-out) on Saturday and didn’t know anything about him, you would never have guessed he was 21 and playing in his third Test. He showed a lot of composure, stealing line-out ball and setting up the try for Anthony Watson. He was a real handful and meant that England were able to threaten Wales from all kinds of areas and through different players. All of a sudden they became a more dangerous team.

Itoje was cut early from the World Cup squad but I understand why the decision was made as the tournament brings with it enormous pressure and the teams tend to be of higher quality.

He has so many years to play and already has an energy which the whole England team had for the first 60 minutes against Wales.

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I am sure Chris Ashton will be a keen observer of the results of the Tomas Francis citing after TV pictures showed the Wales prop appearing to make contact near Dan Cole’s eyes.

The wing’s hopes of playing for England for the first time since 2014 were ended when he was suspended for 10 weeks for making contact with the eyes of an opponent while playing for Saracens. He will want to see how his punishment compares with any given to Francis. I don’t see how you can give a penalty for foul play and the player stays on.

You do tread a fine line in games and England won’t be happy they’ve received three yellow cards in the last two games. Cole was yellow carded in that same incident and we will need 15 men on the pitch for 80 minutes against France for a very physical game against a big pack.

Jason Robinson is an ambassador for TXM group www.txmgroup.com

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