England v Canada: If England want miracles they would be wiser to listen to Smokey Robinson than rely on his namesakes Andy and Jason. To expect a new head coach and a stand-in captain to guide a much-changed side to three immediate wins over Canada, South Africa and Australia is asking a lot and there is always a risk of the autumn series ending in tears of some description.
For starters, though, England should be able to do as they please today against semi-professional opponents who leaked 51 points to Italy last weekend. Despite a subsequent reshuffle the Canadians are critically hamstrung without their top European-based players. Should the hosts fail to win by a big margin they will need a large maple leaf to cover their embarrassment.
As Andy Robinson agreed yesterday, it is more a case of whether England can live up to the squad's own expectations, specifically in terms of the patterns they weave in attack. All week the talk has been of encouraging players to express themselves and, even though a mean defence remains fundamental for any Test side, today's priority is to find new, inventive ways of crossing the try-line.
While appreciative of the good luck email he received from Clive Woodward yesterday, Robinson and his fellow coaches are even keener for England to break free from the shackles of the latter days of the Woodward era. As Phil Larder bluntly put it, the mistakes of this summer's Southern Hemisphere tour have been absorbed and the collective trust between team-mates and management restored.
"We lost it because we treated our players like machines instead of the skilled individuals they are," stressed Larder. "We asked far too much of them then."
If the ex-rugby league brains of Larder and Joe Lydon, not to mention Jason Robinson and Henry Paul, can graft something exciting on to the carcass of the World Cup-winning team, union will owe the 13-man code a significant debt and the in-form Charlie Hodgson, once a staunch Halifax league fan, could easily have a field day. Hodgson's goalkicking ratio for his country is even better than Jonny Wilkinson's, although he will struggle to surpass the 44 points he scored on his Test debut in the 134-0 rout of Romania three years ago.
Lydon can hardly wait. "I said to Phil Larder this week: 'Who would have thought that you, myself and Jason as captain would in the same union dressing-room nine years on'."
Having come this far, the former Wigan player is not about to stand still. "What we want to do is have a step progression: short, medium and long-term."
Robinson also let slip England are "looking to play in two to three different ways", and want to reintroduce the unpredictability which was Woodward's mission statement in his earliest days. If today does turn out to be the expected mismatch, England may keep some of their tactical powder dry for the Springboks.
With Jason Robinson set to continue as captain for at least another week - the management are still not ruling Wilkinson out of the Wallaby game - the other main intrigue involves guessing how many of England's uncapped replacements will sneak on.
ENGLAND: J Robinson (capt); M Cueto, M Tindall, H Paul, J Lewsey; C Hodgson, A Gomarsall; G Rowntree, S Thompson, J White, D Grewcock, S Borthwick, L Moody , A Hazell, M Corry. Replacements: A Titterrell, A Sheridan, B Kay, H Vyvyan, H Charlton, W Greenwood, B Cohen.
CANADA: D Daypuck; D Moonlight, R Smith, M Di Girolamo, S Richmond; E Fairhurst, P Fleck; K Tkachuk, A Abrams, F Gainer, J Jackson, M Burak, J Cudmore, S McKeen, C Yukes. Replacements: M Lawson, G Cooke, D Pletch, C Strubin, D Spicer, J Cannon, S O'Leary.
Referee: Scott Young (Australia).
