Well written again Nick. Eddie has had some blunders but he would have learned from them. Agree with all your points, but curious that Eddie made the front row selection errors against the Boks - unless he was trying to dupe folks - and persisted with the Smith-Farrell combination which has never been convincing.

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If the goal is RWC success then what to do is easy, because you have little choice: Adopt conventional, tried and tested structures and tactics. The players already know them and can ramp up quickly. With the quality of players available the team could be well above mediocre, and can push for the extra inches. Unfortunately the opposition already know how to deal with this, so it is unlikely to result in outstanding results. With a funny shaped ball and some funny shaped decisions you still have a bit of a chance. Spectacular results would require a coach with the skill, experience and courage to think outside of the box, a few years of testing some good and bad ideas, a challenging tournament (eg 6N) to consolidate the structures and build continuity, and a few months to fine tune the team to peak at the RWC. Wait ... I thought we had that?

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