England went down fighting against Australia (Picture: Shutterstock)
England can end their wretched run of defeats by smashing Japan at Twickenham on Sunday before turning their attentions to the Six Nations with a degree of confidence.
The 29-20 defeat to double world champions South Africa on Saturday was the fifth straight reversal following two summer defeats in New Zealand, a further loss to the All Blacks on home soil to start the autumn Tests and another close reversal against Australia.
Steve Borthwick’s side lost the first two autumn internationals by a single score and were in it until late in the game against the Springboks, so there are positives to be taken from their performances and they may not be too far off being a highly successful team.
The nine-point defeat to South Africa landed our 9/2 bet that they would be beaten by between six and ten points so put some of those winnings on England turning things round and putting Japan to the sword.
The visitors are coached by former boss Eddie Jones and it must be said that despite the recent hiccups and errors England are in a far better place now than they were when he was in command.
Bookmakers believe home fans will cheer on a landslide victory and bet365 go 10/11 they win by more than 34.5 points in their handicap market while victory by between 36 and 40 points is 13/2 with Sky Bet.
The first game in the Six Nations will be against defending champions Ireland in Dublin and England will be buoyed by memories of their 23-22 victory at Twickenham in March which sent the Irish to their only defeat of the campaign.
Ireland are the current 5/4 favourites to retain their crown with BoyleSports and Betway but England are worth consideration a 4/1 with the former firm as, crucially, France must cross the Channel to face them giving Borthwick’s boys a massive edge if they can avoid making those costly late mistakes.
While England’s defeats have been frustrating, Wales are in a right old mess following the worst home defeat in their history when they were thumped 52-20 by Australia in Cardiff on Saturday.
England head coach Steve Borthwick is on a losing streak (Picture: Getty Images)
It gets worse as they entertain the Springboks this weekend, so feel free to lump on the visitors to win by more than 34 points at 9/5 with BoyleSports.
It is shocking that a team who were grand slam champions just five years ago are now 10/11 with William Hill for the wooden spoon.
• Pittsburgh have snuck into serious Super Bowl contention with impressive victories over highly credible opponents Washington then Baltimore. The Steelers, who boast an 8-2 record, are a lock to prevail in their Thursday Night Football trip to the 2-8 Cleveland Browns by more than a field goal at 4/5 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
• Sheffield United, Stoke, Stockport and Doncaster form Saturday’s Football League acca.
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