As England prepare to close their Old Mutual Wealth Series campaign against Samoa on Saturday afternoon, the depth of Eddie Jones’ squad is set to become apparent.
Last weekend’s exhilarating win over Australia marked a 21st win from 22 Test matches since Jones took charge in December 2015.
Jones oozes charm and charisma, and no little self-belief either, all of which has transmitted itself to his players.
The results on the field have been plain to see.
After an understrength England completed an impressive 2-0 Test series win in Argentina during the summer, the opening autumn international pitted them against the same opposition.
A sluggish 21-8 victory over the Pumas was not the most encouraging way for the Red Rose to warm up for last week’s showdown with the Wallabies.
But, England being England, won the match thanks to an exhilarating flurry of three late tries from Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May and Danny Care to secure a 30-6 success.
Significantly, the result equalled England’s record of five successive victories against the Wallabies previously set in 2003 when Sir Clive Woodward’s men lifted the World Cup in Sydney.
Jones has presided over a genuine renaissance of English rugby since taking over from Stuart Lancaster in the wake of the 2015 World Cup disaster on home soil.
The progress they have made – last weekend’s latest success marked a 12th win from 12 Test matches at Twickenham under their Australian head coach – has encouraged hopes of glory in Japan in 2019.
England face Tonga in their World Cup opener in two years’ time and this weekend’s visit of Samoa will be useful preparation for that.
Jones has made a raft of changes for England’s final game of 2017, with captain Dylan Hartley dropping to the bench as Jamie George get his first start.
Hartley is joined among the replacements by 19-year-old lock Nick Isiekwe and back Piers Francis.
Exeter number eight Sam Simmonds makes a starting debut for his country, while Owen Farrell has again been rested with Alex Lozowski paired at centre with Henry Slade.
Prop Mako Vunipola has also been omitted from the 23-man squad, with Ellis Genge starting in the front row with George and Dan Cole.
After impressing on the summer's tour of Argentina, Charlie Ewels is in the second row with Joe Launchbury.
Maro Itoje starts for the first time this autumn, and is alongside Chris Robshaw and Simmonds in the back row.
Following his match-winning cameo against Australia, Danny Care starts at scrum-half while, as expected, full-back Mike Brown returns from concussion.
“The crowd last week was outstanding, there were 82,000 last weekend and we want to put on a good performance for our last game in 2017,” said Jones.
“We always want to play better and we want to play better this week. Just because we have made some changes to the team it does not mean we don’t want to play better.
“Our intent in every game and training session is to improve and it just so happens that this weekend other squad members get that opportunity to put their best foot forward.”
With competition for places fiercer than ever, expect England to put on a show at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon.
