Former England and Lions star Guscott is a BBC rugby union pundit

Former Bath, England and Lions centre Jeremy Guscott is back to answer your questions after the final round of autumn internationals.

Among the topics that Jerry discusses are:

- Where England stand ahead of the 2011 Six Nations after their revival came to a halt at the hands of world champions South Africa

- New Zealand's 2011 World Cup chances after they sealed a fourth Grand Slam in Wales

- Scotland's hopes after they continued their recent winning run with a last-gasp victory over Samoa

- The state of the France side after their 59-16 mauling by Australia in Paris

After a month of autumn internationals showcasing the majority of the world's top sides, who would make your World XV?
Brian, England

My World XV would look something like this:

15. Kurtley Beale 14. Chris Ashton 13. Conrad Smith 12. Sonny Bill Williams 11. Hosea Gear 10. Dan Carter 9. Ben Youngs 8. Kieran Read 7. Richie McCaw 6. Jerome Kaino 5. Victor Matfield 4. Courtney Lawes 3. Dan Cole 2. Bismarck du Plessis 1. Andrew Sheridan.

There were some class performances from a number of other players in November but that would be my team.

After the autumn Tests, where do you think the northern hemisphere stands against the southern hemisphere? Is there a gap? Is it widening? How can the home nations get on the road to consistent success against the likes of the Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies?
Cora Jones, Japan

Jeremy, the Sunday papers were full of stories about the "lessons learned" by the defeated home nations this autumn. Every year I seem to read the same stories. The fact is we have not learned our lessons. Why are the southern hemisphere teams so much better than us?
Stephen McGovern, Ireland

Hi Cora and Stephen, I truly believe that despite the northern hemisphere teams taking a few hidings from either New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, they are slowly improving in certain areas. Apart from the Boks, the southern hemisphere scrums are not that powerful. And, again apart from the the world champions, the line-out is not brilliant.

The southern hemisphere teams definitely have the advantage at the breakdown and the All Blacks and Aussie backlines are overall faster and more skilful. There are a number of reasons why the southern hemisphere appears to be better than its northern counterparts. The autumn series are better geared towards the southern hemisphere teams because they have only just finished the Tri-Nations and have been in camp for a good few months. They arrive 'Test match ready' whereas northern hemisphere sides start from scratch. We have to accept, particularly in the case of the All Blacks, that generally player for player the southern hemisphere teams have the edge in mental hardness, physicality and skill. If the northern hemisphere sides played those from the southern hemisphere on the same basis as they do each other, the northern teams would get much closer - they do not play the southern hemisphere sides often enough.

Highlights - England 11-21 South Africa

Looking back at the autumn internationals, England can say that they had relative success with two wins out of four, but they do seem to be some way off the levels of what was expected after the performance against Australia. Do you think that the XV that started that match and against South Africa is manager Martin Johnson's strongest line-up for the Six Nations and then the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, or in your opinion, is there a door still open for any fringe players or uncapped youngsters?Dave Severn, England

I cannot see much room for changes in that England side apart from injuries and total loss of form. When you look at the players that are not making the starting line-up - Jonny Wilkinson, Riki Flutey, Matt Banahan, Delon Armitage, Dom Waldouck, Dave Attwood and James Haskell - the backup looks reasonably OK. I would add one player who I think should be brought into the Six Nations squad, even if he does not make the staring XV for his club - Manu Tuilagi. Watch this space.

Who do you think is best placed to win the 2011 Six Nations after what we have seen this autumn?
Mark Kelly, Ireland

Up until last weekend England would have been one of the favourites - they still are, but not as strong. First up, they play Wales away, and if Johnson's men win that I believe they will be Six Nations champions. Ireland will host England and France, so conceivably their two hardest games will be in Dublin. France have just been destroyed by Australia, but we all know that counts for nothing - Les Bleus have the quality players to be a force. Scotland are improving and if they remember how to score tries they will do well. Wales have to believe they are a good team and only winning will make that happen. Next year's Six Nations has all the makings of an exciting tournament and who will win is anyone's guess but I will go for England.

Being a huge England fan I feel we can never beat South Africa or the All Blacks without Jonny Wilkinson. In my opinion Wilkinson's tackling, kicking, influence on the team and calmness on the pitch, cannot be matched by Toby Flood. What are your thoughts?
Sriyan, Sri Lanka

Can England win a World Cup without a world class number 10 because we do not have one at the moment?
Richard Pettifer, England

Hi Sriyan and Richard, I have to disagree with you both. I feel Toby Flood has come a long way in 12 months and to me actually looks like a commanding number 10. He is not as good as Wilkinson was in his prime but JW is not as good as he once was. I would stick with Flood but if he does not boss the game in the first 30 minutes of any match I would sub in Wilkinson.

Highlights - Wales 25-37 New Zealand

If 2011 World Cup hosts New Zealand are as clinical as they were in punishing Wales' mistakes, can you see any northern hemisphere side beating them at all in next year's tournament?
Tom, Swansea, Wales

Hi Tom, let us hope for a repeat of what happened in the 1999 Rugby World Cup when France beat the All Blacks in the semi-finals and repeated the feat in the quarter-finals in 2007. So Les Bleus have proven New Zealand are beatable in the tournament. This month England were not that far away from beating the All Blacks, Ireland were a good match for 35 minutes and Wales certainly had the opportunity. It is always a case of taking those chances which the northern hemisphere sides tend not to do apart from France in the odd World Cup and tour match.

While Scotland have won five of their last six Tests, they have been less than convincing. Have they really turned the corner?
Will Truscott, Malaysia

Highlights - Scotland 19-16 Samoa

Trust me, winning is always good for a team. Scotland boss Andy Robinson is slowly getting his players to believe they are good enough to win against all sides. OK, it has not been pretty to watch, but I would hope attack coach Gregor Townsend is working to get his boys across that try line. It is going to be a tough old Six Nations for the Scots - France away and then Wales and Ireland at home will be crucial. Is it unrealistic to think Scotland can win two out of their first three games?

This autumn has shown once again that Dan Carter is comfortably the best fly-half in the world, but has also highlighted his vital importance to the New Zealand cause. Given the lack of decent alternatives playing in the Super 15, do you think it is time that the selectors reconsidered their policy and called up Nick Evans? While not quite in Carter's league, he is on blistering form right now for Harlequins, arguably the best number 10 in the Premiership, and would probably start at fly-half for all of the Six Nations teams. Surely ignoring such a talent leaves the All Blacks vulnerable should Carter get injured?
Tom Curran, UK

I totally agree. I believe All Blacks coach Graham Henry has said there would only be a couple of players he would include in this current squad who are not currently playing in New Zealand, Carl Heymans and Evans. If the hosts lose the Rugby World Cup because of injury to Carter and Henry did not have good enough back up I do not know how he could live with himself. If I were him, I would make Quins an offer to take Evans after the domestic season finishes in England up until the end of the World Cup.

I got the impression that, if in any doubt, the southern hemisphere teams (including Samoa and Fiji) would straighten their running lines, whereas the northern hemisphere tended to drift across the pitch. This was particularly frustrating when the northerners had an overlap as they would squeeze themselves out of space. Is this tendency strategic or just a fear of the southern physicality?
Paul, Canada

Highlights - Ireland 29-9 Argentina

I think all this running across comes from poor coaching. A lot of teams do it and I do not understand why. It should be a basic skill of any player to straighten up a defender by running at his inside shoulder. Players need to get in position earlier, stand deeper so they can run straight. I see a lot of forwards standing flat and getting in the way which does not help unless you are a Kiwi.

Is it just me or did George North look distinctly average (except for the two tries)? He seemed to be out of position defensively and does not have that burst of acceleration that every international wing should possess. I cannot wait for Leigh Halfpenny to come back. What are your thoughts?
Dave, Wales

I thought North played well considering how young and inexperienced he is. The 18-year-old showed in the South Africa game all the great attributes of a good winger - he finished off opportunities and was busy making himself available to carry ball. He is not the quickest but I saw enough against the Springboks to believe he will do very well for Wales. I also think Halfpenny is good at this stage better than North but they are different players.

After another international weekend of reset scrums which frequently end in free-kicks or penalties, do you think it is time to get rid of the "hit"?
Pete Chadbourn, UK

Scrums have started to become farcical in some matches. I do not think it would take too long to get some scrummaging gurus locked in a room to come up with a solution that does not dilute the scrum contest. The International Rugby Board needs to act quickly on this as it is ruining the game as a spectacle and making a mockery of the scrum itself.

I am constantly disappointed at such comments from northern hemisphere commentators such as "it also helps that a lot of South Sea Islanders go to school in New Zealand and qualify to play for the All Blacks". There are only four players in the current All Blacks squad born outside of New Zealand. And of those four, Mils Muliaina moved to New Zealand when he was two. If you take the England squad for example, three players were born in New Zealand, one in South Africa, one in Trinidad and one in Ireland. Why is there the constant focus on these redundant issues of entitlement to play for a certain country? New Zealand, like England, is a multi-cultural country and draws from the pool of players available to them. What are your comments on this?
Scott, New Zealand

You have a point, Scott, and you make it well when talking about England just as I believe I have when talking about New Zealand. You just picked out that one point out of the many I made, get over it, there is no reason to be so disappointed.

Dan Carter became the highest points scorer in history as New Zealand sealed a Grand Slam of wins over the home nations in Wales. What is it about the All Blacks that enables them to be so prolific year after year, without having to "rebuild" like England have had to?
Richard Crawford, UK

I would say it is all down to the New Zealand system of coaching all the youngsters in the same way. Get them young, coach them the basics well and move on from there. Rugby in New Zealand is played the same way by all schools and through all their representative age groups. Their technique and skill levels are superior to most. It is their national sport and, even though the population is relatively small, they have a never-ending conveyor belt of talent in all positions. It also helps that a lot of South Sea Islanders go to school in New Zealand and qualify to play for the All Blacks.

Jeremy, since I started following rugby, there have been two number 10s that really stand out for me; Jonny Wilkinson before his succession of injuries and Dan Carter. If you were given the choice which one would you have most liked to have played alongside?
Ben, UK

Hi Ben, good question and one I cannot answer easily but here goes; at their best I would want Wilkinson for his defensive qualities, there has not been a better tackling stand-off ever. While their kicking is on par with one another, in attack I would have to go for Carter - his running is effortless and he does attract defenders, which makes it easier for a centre to find space.

If you have any questions for Jerry, please use the postform on this page. He will answer as many as possible next week, but unfortunately not every question submitted can be used.

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