It’s a joke, but no one’s laughing

ALL over bar the shouting? Well, unless Martin Johnson can oversee a tactical sea-change of monumental proportions and England finally decide to go out and play, the destination of the 2010 Six Nations championship has already been decided.

With a differential of +50 points — it could have been even more but for a brave and committed fightback from the Italians at the Stade de France on Sunday — France already have the championship trophy in the bag.

With England the only side standing between them and a first Grand Slam since 2004, even by their unpredictable standards, you just can’t see France slipping up at this stage. If they need any additional motivation to beat what they see as their greatest sporting rival, they need only look back as far as Twickenham last year when an average English side humiliated them by 34-10.