Well, that settles that then. Any doubts over whether England would form the template for the Lions squad and Test selections for this summer's Australian odyssey were emphatically dispelled by the opening weekend of the Six Nations championship.
England hit the ground running quicker than anyone else, and even the original odds of 5 to 4 to win the Grand Slam now seem almost generous.
They could, of course, have an off-day yet, though that probably won't change the Lions pecking order by much, and as a spin-off, England seem more assured than ever of forming the nucleus of the Lions squad and Test team.
Of the 20 or 21 probables for the final 37-man squad, on the opening weekend's evidence as many as a dozen of the England team which started Saturday's stunningly adventurous 44-15 win (clearly bearing Brian Ashton's inventive coaching imprint) plus Austin Healey, look like certainties.
Even Iain Balshaw, with his youthful exuberance, inexperience, basic handling errors and positional flaws, has made the most compelling case yet for the problematic position of full back.
Those defensive errors might make Lions coach Graham Henry wonder about Balshaw's inclusion against the world champions, but his fiendishly late, pacey, angled intrusions into the line and fearless counter-attacking made him look the best attacking full back around.
Balshaw's national rival, Matt Perry, looks his biggest Lions rival too. In playing Stephen Jones out of position there, and pushing Daffyd James onto the wing, Wales coach Henry did no obvious favours for his own candidates in an outclassed, outpaced outside three.
Colin Patterson had some good moments and some bad, but Glenn Metcalfe's 80-minute run-out for the Scottish As suggests he could yet emerge as a more credible candidate.
Ben Cohen and Healey enhanced their credentials for the wing positions above the rest, with Shane Horgan giving the next best nudge to the selectors.
The midfield is rapidly becoming even more competitive. England are nearly always more potent when Will Greenwood is there and he must have cemented his touring place. Greenwood embarrassed Wales' Mark Taylor (whose attacking game was unexceptional) with his hand-off in looping around Healey for his hat-trick try. Indeed, Alan Bateman again looked better than Taylor after replacing him.
Greenwood could also be an inside centre option where, admittedly, the competition is stiffening.
Mike Catt's outhalf and playmaking abilities keep him well placed; Rob Henderson enhanced his reputation; John Leslie initially impressed upon his return when taking the ball up well before his lack of matches told, and Scott Gibbs wasn't one of Wales' worst players, augmenting some trademark hits by taking the ball up well eventually and clearly playing through the pain barrier.
Jonny Wilkinson's varied running game, torpedo boot and deadly place-kicking set the standard at outhalf for the campaign and he looked the Test outhalf in waiting. Neil Jenkins, by comparison, looked dispirited from early on and with Gregor Townsend suffering a setback Ronan O'Gara must have strengthened his candidature.
Granted, some of Ireland's tactical kicking in the first half was poor, but in the second half, reverting to the flat, running game, some of O'Gara's distribution was class.
Matt Dawson and Robert Howley looked the class scrumhalf acts, while Andy Nicol also sniped well in Paris before Bryan Redpath's quicker pass gave Scotland more life. Peter Stringer's toughness and peerless passing kept him in the frame, though he has some catching up to do.
At loose-head, Jason Leonard had another fine game for England, with Trevor Woodman a strong understudy. Tom Smith was one of Scotland's best players so Peter Clohessy probably needs to respond quickly. The hooking pecking order probably didn't alter that much, but despite Ireland's disappointing scrum the relative dearth at tight-head keeps John Hayes in contention.
By comparison, Malcolm O'Kelly possibly lost the most ground in the eminently more competitive second-row area.
The English pair lorded it over their Welsh counterparts but whereas Scott Murray was arguably one of Scotland's best two players in Paris, O'Kelly had a poor first half in Rome by his standards, requiring a verbal volley at half-time to bring an improvement. A big 80 minutes against France would be timely.
The English back row will also probably start the first Test, with the rest fighting for the economy class seats. John Leslie and Colin Charvis were unstinting in losing causes. Coming up on the outside, David Wallace's all-action championship debut must have seen him gallop into fringe contention at least, given his strength and physique. His dynamic ball-carrying would have to be seen as a weapon if he could reproduce that level of performance in a truer test against the French.
Nevertheless, Budge Pountney's exceptional industry in Paris was top drawer. And, as he's cut more from a genuine open-side cloth, he is probably best-placed as second to Neil Back in the loose-forward pecking order.
