England -31 Wales - 21 England can still win the Six Nations title but the world champions are not approaching their rendezvous with France this weekend with their normal elan. If Lawrence Dallaglio ends up lifting the trophy in Paris come Saturday night, his side will have made heavy weather of it.
Even before the French won comfortably at Murrayfield yesterday, there was no sense of mounting confidence on the trains home from Twickenham. "Mediocre" was among the kinder descriptions of England's performance, and far more consistency will be needed to achieve the eight-point victory they now require at the Stade de France to sneak the title.
Another grisly defeat was even a possibility when England entered the last 20 minutes trailing 21-16, and the home side's diffident moments lasted long enough to increase suspicions that winning the World Cup has taken a hefty mental toll.
"It depends which England team turn up," shrugged the Wales captain, Colin Charvis, accurately summing up the popular view post-match of their chances in Paris.
England's split personality certainly made for a wind-swept and interesting encounter, particularly in a third quarter which revived memories of the World Cup quarter-final in Brisbane when Wales' nimble runners created similar unease. At times the men in white, under pressure, looked as composed as mad March hares. This has not been a month Clive Woodward will recall with much pleasure.
Ultimately his side were indebted to four players in particular: Ben Cohen for his two muscular tries; the calm assurance of their late replacement outhalf Olly Barkley, who slotted six out of seven kicks to cap an impressive first Test start; Ben Kay for living up to his pledge to sort out the lineout shambles; and Julian White, whose appearance as a substitute knocked the stuffing out of the Welsh scrummage.
But the real revelation was Barkley's maturity. Although the 22-year-old is England's fourth-choice outhalf, he demonstrated he belongs at this level. He landed four penalties and two conversions as well as adding zest to an England backline which still looks strangely disjointed.
It was hard not to share the Welsh management's view that, had England's front five been less single-minded at the set-pieces, the home side would have been beaten for the second game in a row, left to rue Gareth Thomas' record-equalling 33rd Test try in the second minute of the second half and another well-worked score for Mark Taylor nine minutes later.
Only when White arrived and the lively Gareth Cooper departed did the tide turn: Cohen stretched another telescopic arm over the line after Vickery and Matt Dawson had been denied at close range, Barkley slotted his fourth penalty and Joe Worsley skipped over wide out with a couple of minutes left. No bread of heaven this year, then, but plenty of food for thought.
There is a website, called jumptheshark.com, that seeks to identify the point when popular TV series start going downhill. Crossing the Channel this week could well show if Woodward's England have already jumped their own shark.
ENGLAND: J Robinson; J Lewsey, W Greenwood (M Catt, 73), M Tindall, B Cohen; O Barkley, M Dawson; T Woodman, S Thompson, P Vickery (J White 69), D Grewcock, B Kay, C Jones (J Worsley half-time), R Hill, L Dallaglio (capt).
WALES: G Thomas; R Williams, M Taylor (C Sweeney, 60), T Shanklin, S Williams; S Jones, G Cooper (D Peel, 60); Duncan Jones, R McBryde, G Jenkins, B Cockbain (G Llewellyn, 25), M Owen, J Thomas (M Williams, 65), C Charvis (capt), Dafydd Jones.
Referee: A Cole (Australia).
