Eurosport rugby expert Neil Back was delighted to see the improvements made by England in their victory over France in Paris.

I said in my blog last week that I was expecting England to produce a better performance when they faced France in Paris - they did not disappoint!

England were much improved and they definitely took a step forward as a team, mostly because they did the basics well.

I have been critical in the past because they had not been playing the game in the right areas of the pitch, but against France I think they controlled territory and possession very well.

Jonny Wilkinson's kicking and distribution were much better, Phil Vickery and Andrew Sheridan gave them a solid platform, and Richard Wigglesworth was able to benefit from this.

It was a vital win for Brian Ashton and his team and will help them develop momentum and a winning mentality, from which they can develop their attacking variations.

Clearly France have been more experimental than England so far in this Six Nations but I think they may be taking things too quickly.

Against a strong English defence they tried to play the game in the wrong parts of the pitch. This led to errors which put them under massive pressure.

Like France, England are trying to develop a more expansive game. The difference is they are taking logical steps to get there. This is something I'm not sure France coach Marc Lievremont is doing.

There is no question England are a good team and there is now a chance their showdown with Ireland on the final weekend could be the championship decider.

England have won two from three in this Six Nations and moved forward last week by doing the basics well.

If they continue winning, this will breed confidence and teams will also start to view them differently - perhaps with the same fear as before when we were ranked number one in the world.

I was pleased to see Tom Croft get some game time at the Stade de France. I will sit down with Tom and go through the game and help identify areas he can improve, but overall I was impressed with his work rate.

I sent Tom a text before the match wishing him luck and urging him to put in a man-of-the-match performance off the bench.

I'm not sure how James Haskell's injury is going, but if Tom gets to play against Scotland then I hope England can take full advantage of his athletic ability.

He is an excellent line-out and re-start jumper. With his aerial ability and speed he can also be a real threat on the cross kicks.

Overall, I think the England back-row went very well in Paris, on the back of a massive effort from their front five.

Michael Lipman showed that he is an out and out seven. He runs hard and carries the ball well. Like all good opensides his first thought at the break down is to win the ball, whereas others sometimes get caught in two minds.

For me, Ashton has to give some thought to full-back and hooker. Iain Balshaw did not have his best game for England, while Mark Regan is coming to the end of his international career.

I remember when Balsh first came on the scene; I thought he was going to get a lot of caps and be around for a long time.

He is a naturally a very good footballer and I've always rated him, so I can understand why Brian has given him a run at 15.

Regan has done a sterling job for England but I think Brian must decide soon when to introduce another hooker.

Hookers often get blamed when the lineout goes wrong, even when it is the jumper's fault or there has been a communication problem.

Throwing in is a real skill and often hookers do not get the praise they deserve. But on Saturday a few balls were overthrown.

Ronnie may not be a dynamic carrier but he looks after the ball well and has played a huge part in England's front five effort over the past year or so.

But I think it is now time to give someone else a chance and for me George Chuter ticks all the boxes - plus he'll be around for a while yet.

Despite losing, Leicester actually played pretty well against Sale last weekend - well, for all but the last few minutes when we made a few errors and let them sneak a win.

It's important to give Sale credit for a well-worked Sebastien Chabal try in the final minute. You could tell by their reaction what the win meant to them.

We play Leeds this Saturday and although they may be rooted to the bottom of the table we will certainly not be taking them lightly.

I have studied Leeds closely and I know they are not a bad team. They can create problems for the opposition, as we saw recently when they pushed London Irish close.

It's unheard of for Leicester to lose three on the trot so we will have to be mentally right for the challenge.

Eurosport