RUGBY:With the confidence that winning brings, stopping England will be a more difficult task than it would have been 12 months ago, writes BOB CASEY

ENGLAND’S DEVELOPMENT under Martin Johnson is beginning to reap dividends as the chariot gathers speed following a third successive victory in this season’s Six Nations Championship. They will celebrate the victory over France, if not all aspects of the performance, but there is growing evidence the English will be a dangerous prospect and genuine Grand Slam aspirants by the time they reach the Aviva stadium next month.

There is no doubt the English squad are more comfortable in their own skin, so to speak; there is a strong bond and sense of camaraderie that is evident on and off the pitch. This is partially attributable to the fact that the players are more at ease under Johnson’s gaze. Quite a few would have played under the England coach and the rest would have been well aware of his status within the game.

In the early part of his reign Johnson cut an intimidating figure and there appeared to be a fear factor, the players afraid to make mistakes. The upshot was that England were inhibited in their patterns with the players preoccupied by avoiding mistakes. That no longer appears to be the case as players and management have meshed into a tight unit and the proof is evident on the pitch.

Johnson has managed to empower his players; he’s been able to step back and cut a more positive figure and influence. One glaring example is the way in which the coach has handled the Chris Ashton swallow dive furore. Johnson’s told him he’d prefer if he didn’t do it but there’s a bit of banter there, which there wouldn’t in the past.

England captain Mike Tindall has facilitated the transformation. I was talking to Lambie (Ryan Lamb) about him and he confirmed that Tindall is a popular figure, a shrewd leader, a world class defender and an excellent communicator on the pitch. He’s constantly talking yet he’s pretty chilled, capable of a smile or two in the heat of battle.

He’s an important figure in leadership terms, particular in defence and he’s been very effective to the point where he’s now playing arguably his best rugby for a long time. The English game plan remains pretty regimented. They look to take ball round the corner, the forwards using their physicality and work-rate to get over the gain line. By the time they get near the touchline the idea is that they will have a full backline waiting to go as they switch direction.

The back three, Ben Foden, Ashton and Mark Cueto have been given more licence to counterattack as the patterns have evolved over time. Cueto’s left foot – much like the way Ireland and Leinster use Rob Kearney – is used to clear ball from, inside the 22 and take pressure off Toby Flood.

Having played against Foden I can vouch for how strong he is through the hips and quad area. He breaks an awful lot of tackles and while Francois Trinh Duc should have done better for the try on Saturday, I wasn’t surprised to see him power through.

England possess impact players on the bench and with Courtney Lawes and Tom Croft back playing at the weekend, the squad will get stronger. On a personal note I was delighted to see London Irish prop Alex Corbisiero come on after 28 minutes and acquit himself very capably. He enjoyed a great debut against Italy and simply picked up where he left off on Saturday at Twickenham.

It was interesting to note that England backs’ coach Brian Smith acts as a water carrier for the team. Normally it is the job of an injured player, a physio or in Ireland’s case video analyst Mervyn Murphy but Smith is the link with the coaching team in the stands in terms of getting messages onto the pitch. He had two or three chats with Tindall to fine tune aspects of the back play.

From personal experience I know the value of getting clear, concise instruction. I remember once getting a message – I won’t name and shame – that told me to use a Bruno 78 lineout variation. We had no such gambit.

England forwards’ coach John Wells’s baby is the breakdown. On Saturday the English usually just committed two players to the tackle area where they try to create maximum nuisance value. It’s not just a case of tackle and roll away. They use the spider technique to slow down French ball. That is where a player gets onto his feet with his hands on the ground and climbs out through the front door of the ruck rather than rolling away or slipping back to his own side. It commits an extra opposition player to clean him out and also slows down possession; theoretically it’s illegal but practically it’s very effective.

The home side’s counter-rucking game was impressive. They have a trigger call of “fire” when a player realises there is an opportunity to turn over ball. An example was when Sebastien Chabal took the ball into contact and England hooker Dylan Hartley realised that the French player was a little isolated. He tears into the ruck, shouting “fire” and is followed in by four team-mates, who secure the turnover.

England’s set-piece is strong, from the scrum to the lineout where they can get the excellent Tom Wood in the air with only one lifter – this allows them to have two other pods – and in Louis Deacon and Tom Palmer boast a secondrow pairing whose talents complement one another.

Deacon calls the lineout and his style around the pitch would be at the graft end of affairs, something appreciated and valued by team-mates.

It was instructive to note the English pack were five kilograms a man heavier. That’s a huge amount of weight and it takes its toll when they manage to inject dynamism into their confrontational ball-carrying style.

Ben Youngs and Toby Flood give England a fluency at halfback. Youngs is a threat around the fringes while Flood has developed a keen appreciation of space and how to put others into it.

Ireland will need to ensure that the pillar tracks Young and takes him irrespective of what it happening and that his fellow guard is alive to the player running the cutback. England’s physically heavy pack takes its toll on any defence and it also shapes the way a referee looks at the breakdown: attacking teams are generally given more leniency so Ireland won’t be able to cough up cheap ball.

At Twickenham on Saturday, France had chances to win the match but didn’t convert. There were aspects of England’s play that were still pretty shoddy in a contest pockmarked by a significant error rate. But Johnson’s men are moving in the right direction and with the confidence that winning brings, stopping them will be a more difficult task than it would have been 12 months ago.