Crisis averted (for now) in game that Borthwick could not Win

The burgundy-clad hosts did not have to extend themselves unduly, crossing the whitewash more often than in their previous three Autumn Nations Series games combined.

- Robert Kitson

A disappointing calendar year for England has at least ended with a flurry of nine tries and a healthier-looking outcome. A bucket-load of points against a callow Japanese team on a blustery Sunday afternoon, however, does only so much to massage the overall bottom line. Five wins from 12 Tests - with four of the victories having come against Japan twice, Italy and Wales - tells the story of a side who look better when they face inferior opposition.

What is the best England could have expected from their final Test of the year? Probably something like this. But, really, this was the proverbial game they could not win. It has been tempting, as it always is with England, to cry crisis at every opportunity, especially this autumn as that losing run stretched out like a man on a rack. But it is hardly stretching a point, either, to observe that only the slightest adjustment to what actually happened might have conjured a far healthier picture. That hit post at the end of the All Blacks game, that late drama against Australia - tweak those and this campaign might even have been considered a success.