'One step forward...'

The Autumn Internationals saw an England side progressing towards the World Cup with such promise that you could be forgiven for thinking they had an outside chance of contending for the ultimate prize. Okay so they were out-classed by the All Blacks and beaten up by a monster South African pack, but some valuable lessons were learned and the quite brilliant manner in which they dispatched Australia gave hope to the nation that this group of fresh faced individuals might just have a successful future on the International stage.

Fast forward a couple of months and that optimistic outlook has been shelved again. Injuries to key players and question marks over some of the important selections has put paid to that and a feeling of uncertainty has crept in. England aren't ready and this World Cup was always going to come too soon, but all of a sudden challenging France for the Six Nations crown looks a little less feasible and there is a fear that the developments ongoing under Johnson could stagnate.

It's not so much the injuries to Lawes, Croft and Moody, because they can't be helped, but who they are to be replaced by. England's improvement has resulted from the selection of a different breed of forward and by reverting to able and try-hard plodders they risk undermining the style they've developed in the last year. With all due respect to Louis Deacon and Joe Worsley, who have been and still are outstanding professionals, they don't offer the same impact, threat or skills set to the men they are replacing and more importantly they don't offer the same dynamism.

International Rugby has moved on. Gone are the days of the Lock who got by on his setpiece and rucking alone. All of a sudden a Second Row is expected to be able to pass and carry the ball, tackle in the tight but now in the loose also and generally act as an extra backrower. In Lawes, England have produced a new breed but in selecting Deacon they revert to the plodding option who isn't going to throw the pass that sends Chris Ashton the length of the field. The same goes for Worsley. Make no mistake about it, the brute from Wasps tackles and boy he tackles hard but it's more of a case of what he doesn't do than what he does. Joe doesn't offer a lineout option, he doesn't carry well in the loose and he certainly isn't going to 'corner-flag' like Croft does.

Perhaps there isn't the pool of players available to Johnson to continue the style they've developed? Maybe Worsley and Deacon will perform admirably in this upcoming Six Nations? Only time will tell. Let's just hope that we don't hear that dreadful phrase from every microphone of every pundit this February when referring to England; 'One step forward...'.