A member of the coaching staff, not given to hyperbole, said last week that within 18 months, England would have returned to the self-confident point reached by Clive Woodward’s squad in 2003. Three days later, England turned in the miserable display against Scotland that has led to demands for the head of Brian Ashton, the head coach, and a wholesale turnover in players.

With another potential banana skin looming at Twickenham tomorrow in the green shape of Ireland, followed by two internationals with New Zealand in June, you would not expect confidence in the camp to be high. “We live in a kneejerk reaction world at the moment,” Rob Andrew, the RFU director of elite rugby, said yesterday, well aware that his own situation is under intense scrutiny, too.

Andrew seeks to see things as they are, not as people would like them to be. Neither he nor Ashton has occupied his post longer than 18 months, so can hardly claim responsibility for the wasted three years that followed the winning of the 2003 World Cup. Whatever the outcome tomorrow, the final round for England (and Ireland, as it happens) of a mediocre RBS Six Nations Championship, Andrew and Kevin Bowring, the RFU head of elite coaching development, will conduct the normal review, which comes to a head on April 14, when all the coaches and support staff receive their assessments.

He will do so knowing how different it might have been, but for the misfortunes that occurred in the opening match against Wales, when England in effect lost their back row to injury and compounded the situation with ten minutes of craziness in the second half that deprived them of a winning position. He also knows that if England and Wales win tomorrow, the two countries in the championship with the least experienced players — England and France — will have taken three wins from five, which would not be the worst return.

England scarcely top an aggregate of 300 caps, having deprived themselves of Jonny Wilkinson — their most-capped player against Scotland with 69. France, having chosen their most experienced side of the championship for Cardiff, have pushed on towards 400, although at times this year their starting XV has been even greener than England’s.

But at all times, both countries have been well down on their Celtic cousins and Italy. But for the loss of the injured Brian O’Driscoll, Ireland would have been well over 600 while Wales have chosen their less-experienced half-back pairing of Michael Phillips and James Hook. When they have preferred Dwayne Peel and Stephen Jones, they have added more than 50 caps-worth of experience to their already considerable value.

These things count. “You have to consider, too, the amount of time the squad has had together,” Andrew said. “Wales have had the sort of time that we will have next season, when the new agreement between the RFU and the Guinness Premiership comes into effect. They had a two-week build-up to their first match, they have been able to rest players within the Six Nations or send them back to their regions if they feel they need game time.

“There has been one very poor performance, against Scotland, and it’s not the first time that’s happened, as I know only too well and as some of our critics have experienced first hand, too. People are entitled to their opinion but they must remember that the World Cup was, in a sense, a one-off performance which came six months after we had been hammered in Dublin and lost in Cardiff and didn’t know where the World Cup squad was coming from.

“Reaching the World Cup final did create expectation for this Six Nations, but we then lost a lot of experienced players again, through injury and retirement. We’re preparing now an England side that is aiming to do well in the 2011 World Cup and when you consider the lack of experience around, that takes time.”

Andrew is confident that the structures are now in place to justify the confident assertion of his coach. An inexperienced England Saxons team beat both Ireland and Italy last month and will defend the Churchill Cup in North America in June under the management of Steve Bates, installed this week as acting head coach at Newcastle Falcons, and Toby Booth, the London Irish forwards coach whose players have been the most consistent in club competitions since Christmas.

In Gloucester this evening, England’s under-20 side will bid for the junior grand slam against Ireland, with their own world championship to come in Wales in June. Ireland were unbeaten themselves at this level last season and England are without several of their better players, recalled to Premiership duty by their clubs, so will select Adam Greendale (Leeds Carnegie), in his first outing, at fly half and Graham Kitchener (Worcester Warriors) at lock. “We hope for massive improvement next season, given the agreement and the way the players will be managed,” Andrew said. He hopes, too, that by the time England leave for their demanding summer assignment in New Zealand, where they play the All Blacks in Auckland and Christchurch, the team manager will be in place that Ashton wants and Andy Robinson, his predecessor, was denied.

Andrew acknowledges that, should England lose tomorrow — and they have not beaten Ireland at Twickenham since 2002 — then the clamour for coaching change will be even louder. “It’s not something I would consider at this point,” he said. “You have to look at the whole tournament, what has gone on and what has had to be dealt with during the tournament itself.

“There has been some really good rugby played in the Premiership this year and this period when players go backwards and forwards between clubs and country doesn’t help anyone, that’s why we spent so long finding a solution. That’s why we have seen the inconsistency at England level and in the Premiership, too.”

Where the caps fit

Aggregate caps for starting XVs in tomorrow’s Six Nations matches and the most capped players

582

Ireland — John Hayes, 83 caps

578

Wales — Martyn Williams, 80 caps

528

Italy — Andrea Lo Cicero, 75 caps

468

Scotland — Chris Paterson, 85 caps

379

France — Damien Traille, 62 caps

317

England — Phil Vickery, 63 caps

England’s remaining programme for 2008

Tomorrow v Ireland (Twickenham); June 14 v New Zealand (Auckland); June 21 v New Zealand (Christchurch); July 1, new eight-year agreement between RFU and clubs takes effect; Nov 8 v Pacific Islands (Twickenham); Nov 15 v Australia (Twickenham); Nov 22 v South Africa (Twickenham); Nov 29 v New Zealand (Twickenham).