At last! The old hands finally agree to come to the party

I THINK it's the Buddists who insist one of the biggest problems in this world is people mistakenly thinking they have time

- BRENDAN GALLAGHER

Time to fulfill their potential and make things happen. Time to write your name large, or make that fortune you think you deserve. Time to write that novel you have been planning for decades. Time to get your preparations right ahead of the World Cup.

But time is not infinite, it's a luxury, it waits for no man. Lost time can never be made up and one day comes the crushing realisation that it is quickly running out which is always very interesting in the sporting context. It adds a sharp edge to proceedings.

Or rather it should but for the first 65 minutes or so yesterday there was precious little evidence of this from England as what many would consider their Gun XV sauntered around Twickenham in rudderless fashion. No urgency, no electricity, or imagination, no joie de vie. Discipline lax, a complete shambles. It's difficult to believe a highly paid group of professionals who have been in camp all summer could play so poorly. It was bloody odd. As recently as Monday, 33 Englishmen stout and true got picked for the World Cup and posed for the squad picture in the sun at Twickenham. In midweek their families and loved ones were invited down to training for a feel good day and at the very least yesterday there should have been an explosion of optimistic exuberance and a sense of mission against what in essence was a Wales Second XV.

Instead, for the first hour or so we were served up both rugby incontinence and incompetence. It was hide-behind-the-settee awful and, amongst other things, as an exercise in selling the game to the floating sporting voter and new, young fans, a complete disaster