The thing I find unbelievable is that many pundits in the English press were predicting - with their usual self-confidence - that England had a good chance of beating France. Opinions varied by how much, but there was something of a consensus that England still had a chance of winning the 6N is they could just "release the handbrake". It was clear to any neutral that England are one level down from Ireland and France these days, and that the idea that England could win the 6N this year is just bonkers. Confirmation yesterday.
This isn't just the tabloid press. The so-called quality press do it all the time, too. Take an average team, hype it to the rafters, predict inevitable victory. When things go wrong, as they have been for a while now, focus on a couple of short term miracle solutions, usually around individual A or B: just change the coach or No.10 and all will be fine.
The absolute thrashing of England at Twickenham last night could go some way to showing it isn't about a few individual failures, and that fundamental change of the whole system is required to raise the level to world class. Is the RFU even capable of that?
The English press do this with every sport. It happens in every country, but they take it to the nth degree. Now busy hyping Murray and Raducanu in Indian Wells. What is this neediness?