'View from the Stands Rugby Blog for 25th February 2013.

Hello rugby fans...this week I want to start with England's victory over a better France side who picked their best available players in their most effective positions....at last!

The England victory keeps up their winning momentum and keeps their Grand Slam Bandwagon rolling along, albeit with '3 wheels on my wagon after Saturday evening's stuttering victory with England fluffing their lines in the first half with a nervy and tetchy display with their playmaker Owen 'Fazz' Farrell seemingly wanting to fight the whole French team after an early confrontation with French full-back Huget, which was 'handbags at five paces really.

This upset the English rhythm and France were the better side at the end of the first-half with France going in 10-9 up.....

The old sporting adage that any really good team can win when not playing well was born out with England's performance on Saturday......This England side are growing into themselves and are starting to believe that they are capable of something special, a first English Grand Slam for 10 years, in 2003, the year that England's last great team won the World Cup....'The White Orcs on steroids' as some New Zealand journo dubbed them....for there is nothing that the All Black's hate more than an 'arrogant' English team coming to the Southern Hemisphere to show them how the game should be played in the North.....

We will have to see if England have peaked too early this season and whether they can keep up the momentum all the way to RWC 2015, hosted by England....we shall see, however in Stuart Lancaster they have an inspirational 'Manager' rather than coach, Lancaster wisely leaves the coaching to his excellent coaches Forwards Coach and Leicester stalwart Graham Rowntree and Rugby League Legend Andy Farrell  who is the defence coach and general motivator and experienced former player who has been in most situations that his charges will face.....They are backed up by Mike Catt, the ex-Bath and England centre as Attack Coach and expert conditioners who have turned England to the fittest team in the Six Nations....

Lancaster is very similar in the way he 'manages' the England elite squad in leaving the coaching to his acolytes, and then delivering the motivational and team talks with his experience as a teacher, being an excellent communicator which we can see fro ourselves every time Stuart Lancaster faces the Press or has a microphone shoved under his nose......

I will stick my neck out now and say that England will win the Grand Slam in Cardiff on Saturday 16th March....I say this as I believe the rampant Scots will defeat Wales at Murrayfield in a couple of week's time when England will put the poor Italians to the sword at Twickenham......

A big shout out to the Scots who are after 15 years of being in limbo since the game went pro in 1995, are once again at the top table of the Six Nations were they deserve to be after two excellent performances which provide momentum and breed confidence.

For too long Scotand have been the poor relations of the Six Nations and now that they have uncovered some 'Rough Diamonds' in wingers Maitland and Visser where the Scots have cast their net widely with Visser being a Dutchman and Maitland a Kiwi....along with electric full-back Stuart Hogg and Richie Gray and Greg Laidlaw who was a revelation and gave the Scots attacking game a much-needed zip when he came on after 60 minutes in Sunday's game.....plus the long-overdue contributions from a couple of 'Old-Stagers in 'Big Jim' Hamilton, the Gloucester lock who played out of his skin on Sunday and Sean Lamont who set up the clinching penalty on Sunday as he kneed through that bizarre kick from Ronan O'Gara which possibly lost the Irish the game....?

As for Ireland, they underperformed again and Coach Declan Kidney is said to be considering his position, having not blooded his great young players soon enough and persevering with the old stagers like O'Gara and O'Driscoll who are both well-past their sell-buy date in my opinion....it was so sad on Sunday to see two such great Irish players as ROG and B'OD struggling as the young tyros were trying to stamp themselves on the game....the Ulster fly-half had a very poor game, from which it will take some time to recover from his bruised ego, however the centre Smedley was probably Ireland's Man of the Match, constantly taking the ball to the line and often through it making several clean line-breaks....it was sad to see when Keith Earls who also had an excellent game in open play and Brian O'Driscoll could not keep up with him as he bore down on the Scottish line and could not get up in support to score the try.....5 seasons ago B'OD would have gobbled up that try-scoring opportunity with alacrity.....As I said in today's' 'In the Clubhouse' rugby show on Sports Radio Birmingham (www.sports-radio.co.uk ) it is sad to see ROG and B'OD in such teminal decline....great players both for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions....we found out that O'Driscoll is NOT infallible after all like The Pope, who with his recent resignation is signalling the way forward for both O'Gara and O'Driscoll....for Chrissakes Ronan and Brian, hang up your boots and choose your time to end your illustrious careers before being dropped....PLEASE!

Finally I want to return to one of my pet topics....the England Women's Rugby Team.........Having lost to all-conquering Ireland a couple of weeks ago the Red Rose Ladies lost again this weekend to France.....it was a nice piece of scheduling from the BBC to put the game on the Freeview Red Button straight after the England Men's Six Nations game.....I watched the game and was impressed by the improved standard of Women's International Rugby with backs now being able to deliver passes off both hands....

I must say though I still think it is a little disrespectful to the rest of the Six Nations teams by fielding what is in effect the England 2nd XV with 17 first choice players playing Sevens World Cup Rugby in the good ole' US of A....Sorry Aston Old Eds Gary Street and assistant coach Graham Smith the former Moseley tight-head prop and England Under 23 international......you patently got it wrong with consecutive defeats for your second string after going unbeaten with you first choice picks for four years in the Women's Six Nations.........

Please give me a listen tomorrow evening on Sports Radio Birmingham at www.sports-radio.co.uk at 8pm for my new local internet radio rugby show: 'In the Clubhouse' where Chris Browne and I try to replicate the special atmosphere of the post-match rugby clubhouse with the beer and the banter..........Gawaan yer no it meks sence!!!!!