After every weekend of the 2025 Six Nations, James Haskell and Mike Tindall are answering Telegraph readers’ questions. Last week Mike Tindall said that Steve Borthwick needed to turn close defeats into wins. The England team went on to do just that in the victory over France on Saturday.

This week is James Haskell’s turn. You can leave questions for the hosts of The Good, The Bad & The Rugby podcast at any point during this year’s championship.

‘Marcus and Fin had a nice balance’

Jim Termini asked Was the decision to play Marcus Smith at No 15 an experiment that paid off?

I don’t think it was an experiment because he has played there before and tactically that was something they wanted to do against France. I think it worked well. People freak out about players playing out of position and I thought Marcus was doing great at No 10 but Fin Smith played there incredibly well. I thought there was a nice balance with both of them on the field.

‘Marcus will not want to sit on the bench’

Ian Mason asked: Should George Furbank come straight back in and Marcus drop to the bench?

That’s a hard one. In the modern game, having a great No 10 who can come off the bench and carve up a game is a nice weapon to have. I think it would add a nice balance. It all depends on who you are playing and whether it makes tactical sense or not. I just think that Marcus will not want to sit on the bench and he will see it as a demotion. It is not like having Ford and Farrell at 10 and 12, I think it is a different kettle of fish to that. One of them might need to be on the bench going forward but Fin Smith has to start because he was brilliant.

‘Don’t put the bunting up just yet’

Paul Schofield asked: How significant a momentum shift do you believe England’s victory was?

First things first, France left about a million tries out on the field. When they scored with about five minutes to go, I thought we had lost it again, only for England to get back into it. I don’t think you need to put the bunting up just yet. It was a game that was very close. Anyone in that world top eight can beat anyone else on their day. France had such an off day, I don’t know how many balls they dropped and you saw errors you never normally see. England need to take the enjoyment from the win and the fact people are going to start being nice to them and then roll on to Scotland, who were not that great against Ireland.

‘Kicking is a big part of England’s plan’

Simon Turner asked: Why do England persist in using box kicks from scrums when they desperately need a spell of possession?

Kicking is a big part of their plan. England wanted to take the legs out of the big French forwards. It is also worth remembering that Elliot Daly’s try comes from a penalty that Ben Earl wins chasing down an Alex Mitchell kick.

‘Old duffers should allow France-based players’

Richard Shephard asked: Should England be picking players based in France?

Yes. 100 per cent. It is non-negotiable. Football does it but rugby has this bizarre fear about it. There would be no exodus. It is utter nonsense. It is a classic case of rugby hamstringing itself for no reason. Do you want to be the best team in the world? Do you want to give yourself the best possible opportunity to win each game? Then pick your best players. It is that simple. It is a free trade. England pick Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham in football. Rugby can’t get their head around it because of a load of old duffers.

‘Scorelines have not reflected England’s endeavour’

Jack Chilcott asked: Can this England team genuinely challenge for silverware in 2027?

We are getting slightly carried away after one win in eight against tier one, aren’t we? I think England and Steve Borthwick will just be focused on winning the next game. I would not worry about World Cups. I don’t think it is relevant. I think the scorelines have not been a true reflection of some of England’s endeavour. If you look at the stats against Ireland, there was hardly anything in it. This time they got the breaks. On another day France win that convincingly so let’s enjoy the win without looking too far ahead.

‘Everyone seems to be a snitch these days’

Gareth James asked: In your era on a night out who was the team ‘responsible adult,’ and who would 100 per cent leave you in a ditch?

I think most of the time you end up having drinks at the hotel anyway. Going out ‘out’ is a recipe for disaster in the middle of a Six Nations, especially as everyone seems to be a snitch these days. If George Ford and Owen Farrell came out, it was a miracle and if they were out they were both quite sensible. Dylan Hartley was very good at making sure everyone behaved themselves. Of course, there were also a couple of shambolic individuals who could easily be returned in a police car but I won’t name names.

‘Welsh rugby will keep eating itself’

Hilary Davies asked: What would be your short, medium and long-term plans to improve the Wales team?

There’s no silver bullet here. There are no secret players no one knows about hiding down the back of the sofa. I love Gats but something is not working there, which you have to take on board. At some point, that has to change. You saw the same thing with Stuart Lancaster that with the same set of players Eddie Jones can win a Grand Slam. You have to look at the whole structure of the game, but they won’t be able to sort everything out so I imagine it will just keep eating itself.

‘The worst thing that happened to rugby’

Andy Aldridge asked: Forward passes seem to be one of the most simple things officials can adjudicate on but they don’t. Why not?

It comes back to the law change where it is about the direction of the hands rather than the ball. Now you have made that precedent, it makes it really hard for the refs with everything they are expected to pick up. The worst thing that happened to rugby was that they review everything going back multiple phases. I am thinking of last week when Tadhg Beirne was done for holding on to Maro Itoje. If you look at every single breakdown in forensic detail, I guarantee you will find something wrong with it. So where do you draw the line?

‘I don’t think Scotland played particularly well’

Gordon Craig asked: Given how superior Ireland were at the breakdown should Scotland have started with Ritchie and Schoeman given the absence of Cummings? Can’t just rely on Darge given how good all of Ireland’s pack seem be at breakdown jackling.

On the day certain teams can dominate the breakdown and Ireland did that to Scotland. Darge was brilliant against Italy and Ireland just did what they did very well. I was at the game and I just don’t think Scotland played particularly well.

‘The title is still wide open’

Nick Moore asked: Should we just give the trophy to the Irish or will the French spoil the treble dream?

I think that’s premature. France are a very proud nation and they will be bitterly disappointed with their performance against England so I expect them to pick it up and go really hard against Ireland. The title is still wide open.

‘There are bigger fish to fry than promotion and relegation’

Andy Ridge asked: Do you see a time when promotion and relegation become part of the Six Nations? If so will the promoted side be protected from immediate relegation and for how long?

It might make things more interesting potentially. It will add a bit of jeopardy but we have to be careful with changing a very successful competition that has a lot of history and tradition. Do we really need to throw that up in the air? It is really interesting in rugby that we always fiddle around with all the things we don’t need to be fiddling around with. There are a lot bigger fish to fry than promotion and relegation.

‘Take away the scrum and what are the fat lads left with?’

Roger Pawsey asked: What on earth is the point of the scrum, with the waste of time and the danger potentially, when every time it is blatantly fed.

In all honesty, I was never a big fan of scrums as a player, but it does give the fat lads something to do. Take that away and what are they left with? I quite like league where it is in and out and just a way to restart the game. I don’t really have a problem with the way it is refereed. You are meant to get the ball on your own feed. So again where do you draw the line with the micro policing of every little thing?

Telegraph Sport has teamed up with rugby podcast The Good, The Bad and The Rugby and the show’s sponsors Continental Tyres for the duration of this year’s Six Nations. To submit a question for next week’s Q&A, see here.