So should he stay or should he go? That’s Eddie ‘I don’t really care what other people think’ Jones, currently ruling the roost over England rugby at Twickenham. Though for how long is another matter. Clearly the language around Jones is changing: the announcement of a review of England’s dismal recent performances very clearly avoided any of the usual ‘We stand right behind the coach’ and ‘We are pleased with the team’s steady progress’ guff that normally sugarcoats such statements. The review of course is largely anonymous, in keeping with English rugby’s characteristic transparency.

But if the Rugby Football Union was as responsive to polling as politicians are, Eddie would be getting his P45 before Christmas. If a show of hands in the hospitality areas at Twickenham after the weekend’s dire loss to a mighty South Africa is anything to go by, there is a substantial change in the air. The feeling has gone from a narrow majority in favour of him continuing to 70-30 against. And these are the long-suffering stalwarts of Guildford and Godalming 2nd XV, for instance, who remain devoted to English rugby, even as the price of a seat goes through the roof and the time the ball is in play through the floor.

With its awful stop-start rhythm, time-wasting and interminable scrum resets, Saturday’s game was not one to remember. But the fact remains that many highly talented players are failing to replicate for their country the exuberance, ambition and thrilling skills that they show week after week for their club sides in the Gallagher Premiership. And it’s not enough to say that Test rugby is different. Sure it is. But England’s cricketers play for their country with a breathtaking fearlessness you don’t see so much in the county game. It’s all a question of leadership.

And don’t say there’s not enough time to change coaches before the World Cup in France: you may not like the Boks’ Rassie Erasmus but he took over a shower of a side and turned them into the 2019 world champions in less than a year.

Bill Sweeney of the RFU has said that fans’ opinions really matter to him. Hmmm. If so he will have to turn himself into Sweeney Todd for his next meeting with Eddie. Because the fans seem to have had enough. I feel a change in the air. If I was Steve Borthwick or Scott Robertson, I’d stayclose to my phone.

And so to Qatar, where fans queue to cough up £12 for a pint of zero-alcohol Bud. Quite a bargain. At the time of writing, patterns are hard to discern as logic gets pleasingly upended. Costa Rica get walloped by Spain but then go on to beat Japan who defeated Germany who snatched a draw with Spain. Pick the bones out of that. What is certain is that France look scarily good. Especially since England are due to meet them in the quarter-finals. If England win, anything is possible, but they will need to take the handbrake off. Has Gareth Southgate got it in him? Or will it be time to call time, like Eddie, on another coaching career?

Thank the lord we can look back on a more innocent era. Like the first World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay, where (and thanks to the boisterous Upshot website for this) the refs wore suits and ties, the Bolivians played in berets and the Romanian team were selected by the King. The European sides sailed together across the Atlantic in a Scottish steamship, which stopped off in Rio to pick up the Brazilians. Egypt, the only African team, were supposed to join them, but set off late and missed the boat. Hosts Uruguay took on their detested neighbours Argentina in the final, and thousands of Argentine fans set off for Montevideo on a steamboat. It got lost in heavy fog and they arrived a day late to find their country had lost.

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