Rugby: After Cardiff Wales and England can look at the positives

Wales' Six Nations triumph restored clarity to the northern hemisphere after confusing season. The Welsh have re-established themselves Europe's best team, as they were a year ago, England are much improved but not contenders yet, and the rest are in various states of rebuilding. Yet in many quarters the result has been reported as a disaster for the English, a grand slam choke akin to 1999, 2000 and 2001, yet this does a disservice to both teams.

For the Welsh, reducing the result to an English failure undersells the team that won a grand slam a year ago and was the best in this year's tournament. A disastrous first half in the opening game against Ireland was all that kept them from a repeat. From half-time in that match onwards, they were the best side, scoring the most tries and points, and conceding the least. However, due to their terrible summer and autumn series, the media narrative was that Rob Howley's tenure as interim head coach was failing and the team had lost its way.

This analysis was grounded in truth. The summer 3-0 defeat by middling Australia side, who seemed ripe for defeat on home soil, was a huge disappointment. The resulting confidence blow cast a shadow over the autumn, when the side looked listless and uninspired, most notably in the defeat by Samoa.

They had not become a bad team overnight though, once the confidence returned in the second half against Ireland, they were back. But they had been written off by the this point, and with England unbeaten through four games, few pundits noticed that the Welsh were clearly the better team, because that did not fit the narrative of a team in crisis and of England marching to a grand slam.

For England, painting it as a disaster does not accurately reflect their position. They were never the grand slam team they were hyped up to be, but in a little over a year they have made huge strides. Disappointment that they failed to meet unrealistically high expectations should not be laid at the feet of the team.

That is not to say that there are not problems, but they can be ironed out. Stuart Lancaster and Andy Farrell's comments after the game were humble and reflected a staff that knows what needs to be done, although this was later undermined by the public criticism of referee Steve Walsh. Asking the IRB about Walsh's decision-making is legitimate, but should be done behind closed doors. The scrum was a serious problem for England in the game, selecting Joe Marler ahead of the stronger scrummager Mako Vunipola was a mistake and Wales' focus on scrummaging instead of the refereeing paid dividends. Adam Jones' strong performance has probably won him the Lions' tighthead spot, especially after Dan Cole's unusually poor showing.

England's other problems were easily identified. Their lack of a pure ball-winning openside was one, as Justin Tipuric and Sam Warburton dominated the breakdown. Chris Robshaw has been a revelation as an international player and a captain, but is not a conventional openside in that sense. If he is going to be England's number seven, he needs support from the rest of the back row, the balance of which is something that will need further scrutiny.

Lancaster and his staff also need to create a greater threat in the backline, one try in four games is not enough, and though none of the starting backs are bad players, they lack cutting edge. Manu Tuilagi is a wrecking ball, capable of great performances, such as against New Zealand last year, but needs to use this threat to make space for his team mates and pass the ball to those outside him. Improving the quality of his handling skills would be a start. Further wide, the damage done by Alex Cuthbert for Wales highlighted the lack of quality wingers in white. Chris Ashton has not played well for England in 18 months and should be dropped until he finds some consistent form and confidence, he does not have enough of an all-round game to stay in the side when not scoring tries. Mike Brown has impressed as a rugby player, and was unlucky to lose his full-back spot to the rapidly maturing Alex Goode, but now that he has, he is out of position on the wing. There is an exciting crop of athletic wingers currently in the Premiership, it would be good to see Christian Wade, Tom Varndell, Charlie Sharples and Jonny May given opportunities in Argentina.

England should not be tricked by the media reaction into changing course. An inexperienced side has come a long way since Lancaster took over, and if the right lessons are learned and applied, there will be many more opportunities. For Wales, the win marked the end of a topsy-turvy twelve months and a return to their rightful place as kings of the north. This is a familiar cycle for them though, each recent grand slam, 2005, 2008, 2012, has been followed by disappointments and unfulfilled expectations. When they resume in the autumn, their challenge will be to take the next step and start challenging the southern hemisphere giants on a regular basis.