England have licence to thrill against Japan after acing audition against Australia | Ugo Monye

Steve Borthwick has picked a team to excite fans – let’s see them beat the Brave Blossoms at their own game on Saturday

Based on England’s performance last week, there was part of me that thought about writing a piece that would light another fire under the squad. As predicted a week ago, England were galvanised by events leading up to the game against Australia and I cannot remember the last time when I came away from Twickenham so impressed by both the result and the performance.

Pretty much every box was ticked. It was a complete showing. Discipline was on point, the set piece went well and England scored all manner of tries. The question is, how does a much-changed team take a step up, continue to build momentum through the Nations Championship and drive things forward? It can be a challenge against a side like Japan – we only have to look back at England versus Japan in 2018, it was like a cemetery for some players’ international careers.