Congratulations to Wales for their victory over England. If you want to know what sort of weekend I had, the three closing words of one text message from a former Glamorgan colleague might give you a clue - " ...you inferior Englishman." There was little point replying to that.

I was unable to watch the game live as I was still dealing with the irate post-match observations of Scotland coach, Matt Williams, in Paris whose version of "we woz robbed" took the form of a character assassination of Irish touch-judge Simon McDowell.

But when I did watch the game, there were a couple of things that immediately struck me. Firstly, what an awful game of rugby it was. Without the drama, which was clearly missing because I already knew the result - first to tell me was Dean Conway, England's Welsh (if that makes sense) cricket physio who happened to be in Cape Town - it was dreadful. England were abysmal and Wales played well for the first twenty minutes before succumbing to a severe attack of nerves and panic when they got ahead.

They were rescued by a chap called Henson who, so it seems, is now rather popular. It was a truly remarkable kick, but those who have been watching any rugby this season will know that he has a boot like a mule.

He also demonstrated he can run and tackle rather well, the two hits on young Mathew Tait being especially conspicuous and subsequently well-documented. His physicality seemed to surprise some, but it has long been a feature of his play, no better illustrated than his first start at inside centre for Wales against the Barbarians last May when he dumped a bemused Nathan Grey (an Australian centre not known for being a shrinking violet) on his backside.

One word of caution though: he may need to be a little careful about the legality of some of his tackles. The one he made on Josh Lewsey on Saturday was illegal, because he made no attempt to us his arms, just as he did not when he absolutely poleaxed scrum half Ryan Powell in the New Year's Day clash between the Ospreys and Cardiff Blues.

It's a minor quibble, though, about a player now almost guaranteed a place on the plane to New Zealand this summer with the Lions, although those inking him into the Test team already might want to consider the claims of two Irishmen in Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy.

They might be struggling for fitness at present but it should be remembered that when they play together O'Driscoll plays at inside centre - the position Henson is hoping to occupy. Michael Owen would also be wise not to make too many plans for the summer either.

I thought he was superb on Saturday, along with Martyn Williams whose ability to slow down England's ball was as crucial to Wales' win as Henson's kick. While in Paris I also witnessed a magnificent performance from another back row forward, Sale's Jason White, who tackled and barged his way around Stade de France with an authority which shocked the below par French.

Anyway, back to Cardiff. My next observation concerns the pitch. To say it was a disgrace is to understate the case. Stephen Jones' third punt of the afternoon amazingly managed to take a huge divot out of the turf as it landed. It was like watching an opening bowler taking delight in disturbing the surface of a wet club pitch.

When one piece of scrum ball was unable to be transferred to the feet of the number eight because of a huge clump of turf blocking its path, then you knew there was a problem. It may even have stymied England's pre-ordained plan of scrummaging Wales off the park. But that might sound like sour grapes.

But having slated all and sundry in the autumn for praising Wales' heroic defeats to South Africa and New Zealand, it would be crass of me to over criticise Wales, who did, after all, win. What this means above and beyond that, though, I am not really sure. Were England so poor on the day for us to make a rational conclusion? We shall see. Italy this weekend will not be easy, but Wales should win comfortably if they are 'back', as everyone says they are.

The most remarkable thing to have happened on England's cricket tour of South Africa this past week was the press conference given by fast bowler Steve Harmison, at which he admitted it was a "kick in the teeth" when he recently passed a fitness test. Yes, you read that right - passed a fitness test. Harmison is desperate to go home, has been since the tour started apparently. Now that is a problem.

It probably explains why he has bowled so poorly all tour. But what do England do about it? Do they just pick him for home games? It is an interesting conundrum, but not really the sort of dilemma we need with the Ashes coming up this summer. Harmison was supposed to be the trump card who could put the wind up the Aussies. Now it emerges that he is a home sick, emotional mess. The Aussies won't pick up on that too much, will they?