It's hard not to have a degree of sympathy for Steve Borthwick after he was left out of the England squad.

Don't get Oval Talk wrong, it was never in favour of Borthwick playing for England in the first place, let alone leading his country for the best part of two years.

But the fact he did - for 20 Tests - before injury finally helped manager Martin Johnson to see the error of his ways, is perhaps typical of the situation England find themselves in with less than 15 months to the World Cup.

Selection has been confused and confusing under Johnson and the fact England now look better set

What a difference a week makes. Just as Oval Talk was busy preparing obits for the England coaches, Martin Johnson's side produced a performance of real character that points to a much brighter future.

Of course, one swallow does not make a summer and Johnson, more than anyone, knows that their Sydney heroics will soon be forgotten if England fail to back up their effort against New Zealand Maori and in their autumn international series.

But what the second Test victory did prove was that England do have the players to be genuinely competitive against the southern hemisphere's big three.

It was by no means a classic encounter, but Oval Talk will long remember Australia's narrow victory over Ireland for one piece of magic from coming great Quade Cooper.

OT had seen the future of Wallabies rugby, a player who quite possibly could set new standards in the sport and force coaches to rethink the nature of half-back play.

Having earned rave reviews throughout the Superb 14s for a series of superb performances, the fly-half was again the stand-out performer in the Wallabies' first Test victory over England earlier this month.

He was Australia's most threatening player as England

It was merely whispered during the Six Nations, but after another abject failure by England Oval Talk believes it is time to seriously consider the future of manager Martin Johnson.

England were appalling in Perth - quite dreadful. Yes, they fought back from 14-0 down to make a game of it on the scoreboard, and yes they dominated the Wallabies' powder-puff front row, but in all other areas they were shocking.

The time has come for the RFU to get tough on Johnson and his coaching team and spell out what they need to achieve from the remainder of the summer tour in order for them to keep their

The last time England manager Martin Johnson was on a rugby field in Perth, Clive Woodward's side overcame South Africa in their crucial 2003 World Cup pool match.

Johnson is not one to reminisce, however, and the current crop of tourists take on a testing Australian Barbarians XV with 10 capped Wallabies included among their ranks.

Topping the bill for the hosts will be the richly talented playmaking midfielder Berrick Barnes (pictured), who inexplicably cannot force his way into the elite side.

The undercard will hardly have England chuckling with disdain either: James O'Connor, the prodigy

Rugby's chiefs have not always got it right in the 15 or so years the game has been professional, but recently they cannot be accused of a failure to act when the sport requires them to.

In the past couple of months we have seen the collective decision to change the tackle law, one that has freed up the attacking team and rescued the sport - and especially the Guinness Premiership - from slipping further into a defence-dominated mire.

And even more recently we have the IRB's confirmation of a return to old-fashioned tours by the leading nations, ones that will take in a series of Tests as well

Now Oval Talk wasn't at Welford Road earlier this month when Brendan Venter became embroiled in a "heated exchange" with Tigers fans, but the Saracens coach appears to have been handed a bum deal with the 14-week ban that bars him from the touchline for the Premiership final.

The Twickenham showpiece is the biggest game in Saracens' history, a game that could define a fantastic season for the London club and round off what could be a terrific conclusion to Venters's first year in charge.

Venter, a former South Africa centre with a full-on Butch James approach, should be on the touchline

For the first time in a long time, Oval Talk has a welcome degree of confidence in Martin Johnson's squad for England's summer tour to Australia and New Zealand.

Okay, so one could argue that a 44-strong party could leave several players twiddling their thumbs during the five-match trip, but in terms of the personnel selected OT quite likes the make-up - in fact, OT has no major quibbles.

As is often the case with selection, Johnson's arm has been forced by injury to a number of senior players, and the unavailability of one in particular - a certain Steve Borthwick -  solves several issues for