It is time for George Ford to start for England © PA Photos

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Monday Maul looks back at another frustrating weekend for England, one which showed promise for Scotland and also took in more Samoan scandal and a growing row over a Welsh hooker.

The time for English learning is over

As he sat facing the press after England's fifth straight defeat, Stuart Lancaster defended his side. He backed the vision for England, reinforcing his faith in the process. "We'll not panic or lose our nerve and we'll not deviate from the course we're on," Lancaster said. "We've played the top two sides in the world now and that's the benchmark for us. We've never said we're the finished article. When we took the roles in 2012 we knew we had to take a young group of players through some tough environments.

"I believe in the coaches, I believe in the players and I believe in what we're doing. It hurts to lose and to lose at Twickenham but the hurt can be turned into a positive. It's about learning who can and cannot deliver in 11 months' time because that's when it really does matter."

England have been learning for a while. When Lancaster took on the job, the work he did in root and branch reform was admirable and essential; it was part of their continual development. But with England now 10 games away from the World Cup, there are still far more questions than answers. At times against South Africa they looked void of inspiration, even nervous and the errors were an inevitable result.

The weekend's awards

• Player: Wales' Liam Williams
• Coach: France's Philippe Saint-Andre
• Try: France's Teddy Thomas is unlucky to miss out but it goes to South Africa's Cobus Reinach
• Quote: "They are getting themselves into a great position at breakdown" - referee Steve Walsh to Chris Robshaw

There is little you can do in training to prepare for the mindset on the matchday. Mike Brown's dropped pass with the try line gaping against New Zealand would never occur in training and Owen Farrell's hospital pass to Anthony Watson in his own 22 against South Africa was an anomaly but such lapses are harming England.

But as Lancaster said, it is about learning who can cope when the "white-hot pressure is on". The current team are not gelling as he would have hoped so he must look at other options. Even if they do not make the impression required, Lancaster will be able to compare and contrast.

There are injured players waiting in the wings - they are badly missing Manu Tuilagi while Dan Cole and Alex Corbisiero can mix it with the best on their day - but they will not be available for their next match against Samoa. Lancaster will rotate the squad and if the players do well, they should be retained for Australia.

There have to be three primary areas of focus for the match against Samoa:

1. Sort out the half-backs: Bath fly-half George Ford and either Leicester's Ben Youngs or Saracens' Richard Wigglesworth need to start at scrum-half against Samoa. England's kicking game has been poor in the last two Tests and Ford deserves his chance at No.10 which will give Farrell food for thought. Similarly, Danny Care's box-kicking has been wayward and Lancaster needs to see how Youngs or Wigglesworth fare.

2. Rotate the back-row: Billy Vunipola struggled against South Africa and Gloucester's Ben Morgan deserves to start No.8 against Samoa. Chris Robshaw should be rested so Tom Wood should captain the side with James Haskell alongside him and Calum Clark on the bench.

3. Eliminate the errors: However they do it, this is a must for England. The first half against South Africa was littered with knock-ons and you cannot make that many mistakes and expect to win Test matches.

The Hibbard debacle

Richard Hibbard's inclusion for Gloucester's game has irked Wales © Getty Images

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Wales have been involved in their fair share of club v country tussles in recent times and they are currently embroiled in another with their brilliant hooker Richard Hibbard at the epicentre of the row. Hibbard was deemed unfit to face Fiji on Saturday and was released back to Gloucester. But to Gatland's surprise, Hibbard then came off the bench against Harlequins on Friday night. Gatland now wants answers.

"I just want to get some clarity on what's going on. Either you are fit to be available or you are not. If he was fit for Wales, he would have been involved," Gatland said. "Either he is fit, or he is not. I don't see how you can somehow become fit halfway through the week. I suppose sometimes that's pressure that clubs put on, and he was told he would sit on the bench and he would not go on unless there was an injury."

Samoa scandal

All is not well in Samoa. Just when it looked like the International Rugby Board and the International Rugby Players' Association had managed to avert the Samoans going on strike ahead of their match against England, the Samoan Prime Minister made a series of grossly misjudged comments. Seeing Samoan rugby in this state is miserable. They are a wonderful rugby-playing nation and the players deserve better. The Samoan Rugby Union must get its house in order and the various stakeholders need to ensure they are doing their utmost to steer the Islanders' ship back on the right course.

Easy call for IRB Player of the Year

© Getty Images

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On Wednesday, the IRB announced a five-man shortlist for the IRB Player of the Year. Two Springboks were named, a pair of All Blacks were included and one Irish fly-half got the nod.

There needs to be no deliberation over who wins it this year, the answer is obvious and stands at 6ft 9in. Brodie Retallick, over the past year, has been the most consistent player in the world's best side. For that reason, this season's Player of the Year is an open and shut case.

Those resurgent Scots

That Scotland are lamenting a missed opportunity against the world's best side shows how far they have come under Vern Cotter. Yes, the All Blacks fielded a largely second-string side, but it still included some of the game's finest players and you can only play what is in front of you. In the tentative stages of Cotter's reign, he seems to have found a good blend in the backs - a group of players who know each other well from their time together at Glasgow - while Greig Laidlaw is marshalling them superbly from scrum-half. This Scotland side is only taking its first, tentative steps under Cotter but the early signs are promising.

Liam Williams puts down a marker

While Wales flapped and floundered in the second half against Fiji, one shining light was the wonderful Liam Williams. He made an incredible 207 metres with ball in hand, deservedly won Man of the Match and ticked all the boxes at fullback. Wales have an injured Leigh Halfpenny waiting in the shadows but when World Cups come around, much of the talk reverberates around the required strength in depth and Williams' performance shows the abundance of riches Wales possess in their back three.