Whatever the flaws of the Nations Championship, its forthcoming second batch of games has provided a more coherent focus on what used to be the autumn internationals. For England the stakes are high given their path to the final. To be sure of topping the Northern Hemisphere group, it is very likely they will have to win all three of their upcoming November matches against Australia, Japan and New Zealand. There is then the issue of bonus points relative to France and Ireland.

Being a biennial competition, the tournament is not like a World Cup, which has innate value in its relative scarcity. It has to negotiate a delicate balance when it comes to fashioning its place in the affections of the rugby public. It needs to be regarded as a worthwhile tournament but not so popular that it damages the lustre of the traditional jewel in World Rugby’s crown. Marketing professionals will claim that the two can draw different audiences, but I have yet to see the compelling evidence that this is so and certainly not in significant numbers.

All this could put the participating management and coaching teams in a conflicted position. There is an overall need to entertain, but the usual aim, by which they are all eventually judged, is finding ways to win, in whatever manner. One thing in England’s favour is that they will play all of their games at the Allianz, Twickenham, where their record is good even when they have been through relatively lean times recently.

What should be a given is the support of the crowd, which at home is usually solid. However, speaking to supporters there is no unanimity in the support for Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, and his tactical approach to games. That should not bother Borthwick, because being England coach is not a popularity contest. What might be of concern is the potential effect on his team if the opening game against the Aussies starts to go wrong early on.

I am not alone in detecting a more fickle mood from the Twickenham faithful recently. Their patience is increasingly thin, and this is not connected solely to what they see on the pitch. For justifiable reasons, tickets are far from cheap (they finance the rest of English rugby, from grass roots to professional), but then you have to add travel costs and the price of entertaining yourself at the ground. I don’t hear many complaints about what Twickenham offers off the pitch, but that is a different issue to what it costs. This is not the fault of either Borthwick or his team, but when spectators feel they have laid out a tidy sum, they expect to see a win or, at the very least, a game which raises their spirits.

When it comes to next Sunday’s game against Australia this may present England with an unwelcome dilemma because I doubt whether it is in their interests to match Australia’s high-paced, high-risk rugby. The Aussies have been rebuilding from a low point and they have shown that they are capable of outstanding performances, like their recent win over South Africa. On the other hand, they lack consistency and discipline and perhaps the more telling parallel between the two sides is how porous their defences have been. They are both conceding something like 30 points per game.

Noting the above, Borthwick and England must look to restrict Australia to below 20 points. If they can do that it gives them more flexibility in attack and by that, I mean they can afford to play tighter when they need to. Above all, they must take control of the set-piece game, and they can then make Australia play on England’s terms – sustained and multi-phased: “they can’t score if you’ve got the ball.”

When you make this call people imagine an unimaginative game, but this need not be the case. What is called for is control of their set-pieces, with Ellis Genge starting and England’s best runners, like Tommy Freeman, being regularly involved and asking questions of Aussie backs like Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i. Making them tackle and getting them at the bottom of rucks means they spend less time carrying the ball and being creative.

To augment this ball-carrying strategy, I think Chandler Cunningham-South is likely to feature alongside Ollie Chessum at blindside flanker. For this game I think England must swap any desire to entertain for an almost any-costs win. They are effectively in knockout territory now and this series of games is the last extended test before the 2027 Six Nations and then we are almost on to the World Cup. Time and opportunities are getting tighter and Borthwick has yet to settle several of his team units. Winning will mean he can progress without panic.