“IT’S a hard life, but if it was easy it would not be worth doing,” said Martin Johnson last night. His life is about to get even harder. England supporters had every right to expect their team, granted enormous time together and with no expense spared, to win at least three of their four autumn Test matches yet in all three of the encounters with the giants of the TriNations they have been wiped out.

It is intolerable that anyone should pretend this current England team is the prototype for a happy future. This group of management and players must end now, and Johnson faces some brutal decisions if England are to make any show at all in the Six Nations after Christmas. England managements have ben pleading for patience for nearly six years without respite. They have no right to ask for more.

Here are my tips for Six Nations success:

1 FORWARD HERITAGE

It was embarrassing to see England demolished in the scrum yesterday. England’s old forward power had previously diminished. It is time to bring size and authority back.

It is also time for Johnson to question his forwards coach, John Wells. The two are friends and it would be ridiculous to lay the blame for the autumn debacle solely at the door of Wells, but under him England appear to be no nearer to forming an attack of real authority. England tend to be prissy when it comes to employing outsiders but Johnson may look overseas for the forward impetus that his team so desperately need.

2 LEADERSHIP

Johnson has spent much of the autumn supporting Steve Borthwick. That must stop. Borthwick has not measured up in terms of his own performance and has had little influence in this series. As a captain, you have to say that his leadership example has been well hidden. Borthwick, frankly, has rarely been seen to be Johnson’s type of player.

Ironically, Borthwick’s fate may have been sealed yesterday by the performance of Nick Kennedy. The London Irish lock proved an able ball-winner at the lineout and earned the right to start after Christmas. However, the idea of playing Borthwick and Kennedy together is something of a nonsense, since both are on the small side and do not make a complementary pairing. Johnson must act.

Johnson must also do what he should have done before opting for a stop-gap captain. He must take one of his burgeoning players who has shown authority and hand him the leadership, so England return after Christmas to fresh and urgent voices, voices who are also making a difference as players. Neither James Haskell nor Tom Rees has had a perfect autumn but for me England’s captain for the Six Nations should come from one of this pair.

3 KICKING GAME

England have suffered compared with their opponents this autumn. Yesterday was a case in point because neither Toby Flood, Delon Armitage or Riki Flutey had any penetration in their kicking, while the likes of Dan Carter — not to mention Matt Giteau and Ruan Pienaar in previous weeks — have done England serious damage. This lack of a kicking game may well send Johnson down to his knees in prayer for a career revival of Olly Barkley, the Gloucester centre who is a better class of kicker.

4 DANNY

The tomfoolery surrounding Danny Cipriani is ridiculous, although Johnson had his defenders for the act of removing Cipriani from the firing line yesterday. Yet when he has recovered his full form and swagger, Cipriani is by a distance the best back available to his country and it would be ridiculous to consider any other starter. It is time to invest England’s future on the Wasps youngster. It is time for Twickenham and most of the rest of the world to get off his back. In a rugby nation which is lacking class, Cipriani is an absolute must.

5 ENGLAND’S AUTUMN

— PLAYERS RISING

Delon Armitage — still with something to prove but there was a coolness about him that bodes well.

Nick Kennedy — is not everyone’s cup of tea but England have a target man when the ball is in the air.

Danny Care — did not set Twickenham alight but kept his head up.

James Haskell — was the one England player whose exuberance seemed to last until the end of play yesterday.

6 FALLING

Martin Johnson — because his selection for his first four games in charge was too often bewildering.

Matt Stephens — had every chance to show a new power but struggled under pressure from Tony Woodcock and New Zealand yesterday.

Toby Flood — nothing more than willing in the England midfield, not powerful enough to play at 12 or authoritative enough to play at 10.

Tom Croft — so much ability but we are still waiting for him to approach true international class.