Well it's over with no surprises and with the usual back-slapping congratulations for a job well done, only it wasn't.
Yes, it was a win and a win is a win as far as the players are concerned, but Eddie Jones seems to have lost his way with an England team that is so one dimensional as to make me wonder if he really is the coach that people say?
His history has seen him have ‘bit parts' in other people's success but without any major wins of his own, as he has usually been moved on after a few years.
The RFU extension till the 2023 World Cup is the first time he has been granted a long-term chance to get it right, but even they must be wondering if he is up to the task.
His early success with England came off the back of Stuart Lancaster's hard work and misfortune with injuries, but as Jones has taken the team forward he has seemed more reliant on newly-added assistants for direction.
Winning the Autumn Nations Cup final against a second-string French side, who were the only team that played any attacking rugby, was expected, but only happened with the help of the referee, Andrew Brace.
Brace, despite checking a knockon by the French that didn't happen, gave England a scrum which eventually led to the penalty that won the game.
Meanwhile, Jones castigates the Press for being ‘entirely disrespectful of the players' in their negative reporting of games but he is wrong.
Anyone who watches and knows anything about our game understands that it is no longer the players who decide how the game is played, it's the coach.
Once the game became professional and coaches were paid large sums of money, particularly international coaches, they have sought more control over how the game is played, even while it is happening.
Whether water carriers or assistant coaches at the pitch side, all are radio linked to the coach in the box relaying instructions to the players at every single break in play.
In the coach-led game there is no room for players with imagination who may do something off script because ultimately coaches want to protect their job.
The England team play the game that they are coached to play and that's the game they play very well and deserve all the praise they get, but when they are matched at the power/kicking game, they appear lost and without direction.
His comment, “I think rugby needs to be positive at the moment, it's a tough time for the sport and a tough time to play” is without doubt true. However, his comments that he thinks the Press should try to create a much more positive picture is fundamentally wrong.
It is not just the Press that report a negative picture, just go on any rugby website and look at the comments from the fans. It is therefore beholden on coaches to try and encourage an open and exciting game, rather than stifling individuality and limiting adventure at any level of the game.
“If the RFU is to control Rugby Union in this country they must have primacy over all clubs”
As Colin Boag wrote last week, teams evolve and Saracens was used as an example, but he forgot to mention the way they did it was by getting a new coach!
Meanwhile, we have the Premiership slowly moving towards not only a ring-fence but the creation of a separate entity within the sport. Which is a cartel that you can enter only by buying your way in.
This should ring alarm bells at the Union who ought to immediately make provision to cut all ties, including and especially funding to the new body.
They should quickly petition World Rugby to ensure that only teams from within the RFU league structure play in any cross-border competitions, including Europe.
As far as the England international team is concerned, it would be difficult for a few years but Eddie Jones should be told he can no longer pick from the PRL clubs and must cast his net further afield.
It would probably means sacrificing hopes of winning the next World Cup with a new team of little experience and a shake up of Warren Gatland's plans for his Lions with many players unavailable, unless they signed for other clubs. The RFU would have to set up more academies not linked to PRL clubs to encourage young players to enter the new pathway to international rugby which should be possible with the money saved from not having to fund a Professional Game Agreement with PRL.
I understand that this is a natural progression for the Premiership, having set up a company with a 13-club split shareholding but to allow access only by buying in is completely against the morals of the game and flies in the face of the promise of an open game for all clubs.
Fortunately, the break in the PGA agreement, where the second part is subject to RFU finances, should mean it is substantially lower than the previous part, allowing the RFU to plan for a future minus PRL and their contracted players and without facing the onerous financial burden of the past four years.
If the RFU are to control Rugby Union in this country they must have primacy over all clubs and cannot allow one small group to dictate the future of the game and must take action no matter how difficult.
