Throwing a pass like that, 21 points up, 5 metres out, under the sticks with half an hour left is exactly why we are not a serious side. If that was the first time the players had considered they could be in that situation and weren’t capable of managing it, that’s on the coaches and senior players

Chessum and Conan for me. Both absolute workhorses doing all the quiet work.

Does Itoje being a certain test starter open the door for an out and out lineout operator like Chessum or Cummings, as opposed to someone like McCarthy, who was great at the weekend, being the second starting lock?