BBC SPORT | RUGBY UNION | England's best way forward

Former England coach and Harlequins and London Irish director of rugby Dick Best tells BBC Sport Online about the lessons to be learnt from the defeat in Dublin.

After 11 consecutive wins, home or away, there was bound to be some feeling that success for England in Dublin was assured. Misguidedly.

Look at the circumstances: England had gone six months without playing together as a team.

The summer tour to North America confirmed a few players as international class, such as Lewis Moody.

But with England's leading group on duty with the Lions, this provided no preparation for the autumn Tests.

Each time that England have fallen at the final hurdle they have come back a better side

Dick Best

First and foremost, England were ring-rusty at Lansdowne Road.

They might have learnt from the Irish experience - their first game together produced a woeful performance against Scotland.

Wales' first outing, against Ireland, found them pretty woeful as well.

England were not in the woeful category, but they did not play anywhere near to their true abilities.

They looked rusty and made far too many errors: the ball popping loose when carried onto contact; poor line-out work; and a generally lacklustre performance.

The basics let them down, even catching, passing and the set-pieces which are normally pretty close to perfect.

Lewis Moody in action
Moody impressed on England's summer tour

It was not what we had come to expect and was a crying shame. But if they come out of it as a better side, all well and good.

Each time that England have fallen at the final hurdle they have come back a better side.

In fact I think you will see a complete transformation when they face the world champions Australia on their next outing.

Mind you, it is an enormous task ahead for the England management team.

Clive Woodward, Andy Robinson, Brian Ashton and co have their work cut out to lift everybody after that defeat, get the players back in the groove, and win.

It is also interesting to ponder what Ireland have achieved.

What they have done to such telling effect is to have brought all, at least almost all, their top players home.

As a result the standard of rugby back in Ireland has improved dramatically in the Provincial set-up.

They have developed the Provinces into very, very strong units, having poured a lot of finance and coaching support behind it.

Perhaps the divisional structure was the best stepping stone to the international game

Dick Best

This has created formidable outfits, reaping rewards already in the Celtic League and especially the Heineken Cup.

Leinster, Munster, Ulster and even the old "Cinderella" province Connacht, are going well, performing heroically in the European competitions.

After last weekend, they are in even more jubilant mood.

Surely this all sends a message to England.

The structure in English rugby is based on the clubs. That's what we started with when the game went pro. But was that the best route to follow?

Thinly spread talent

Perhaps the divisional structure was the best stepping stone to the international game.

I would suggest trying out our elite players, all England-qualified, in four different units in four different regions of England.

Instead, our talent is thinly spread through a dozen Premiership clubs in which non-English players provide a large percentage of the first-team squad.

After all, It seems to work pretty well elsewhere, not just recently in Ireland.

How about New Zealand, Australia and South Africa? They have all won a World Cup.


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