Anyone thinking England's World Cup success will mean a second successive Grand Slam will come easily is sorely mistaken.

In breaking the southern hemisphere's stranglehold on the Web Ellis Trophy, England's players became icons, all-conquering heroes, and brought the sport unprecedented attention in the country.

It was last year's Grand Slam - the newly-knighted Sir Clive Woodward's first - that inaugurated the massive successes of the autumn.

But it is worth remembering how long it took to achieve that Grand Slam.

France in 2002, Ireland in 2001 and Scotland in 2000 all cruelly thwarted England's ambitions, despite possessing on paper the best team in the tournament in those years.

Woodward's level head will not permit him to get carried away, but he is now in charge of a group of players who have achieved everything there is to achieve, beaten everybody, and reached the summit they had been climbing towards for four years.

His challenge now is to revive the hunger in forwards who have one eye on retirement, or three-quarters whose bodies have grown soft on chat-show sofas.

England's aura of invincibility - and their whole World Cup strategy - depended largely on the brooding hulk of Martin Johnson and the prolific boot of golden-boy Johnny Wilkinson.

When the tournament kicks off, the first will be retired, and the second will barely have played a game since November.

Wilkinson's obvious replacement - Charlie Hodgson - has damaged knee ligaments, while centres Mike Tindall and Stuart Abbott have ankle problems and Iain Balshaw is struggling with his calf.

This should not make too much difference against Italy in the opener in the Stadio Flaminio in Rome.

Woodward must hope his squad's famed strength in depth will see them through, but he may come to rue the loss of his key players. He must pray Wilkinson can regain full fitness by March 27.

The tendency for other teams to play above themselves against England, particularly on their own grounds, will only be increased by the hype surrounding the World Cup.

Wales, Scotland and Ireland are all weaker sides, but are more than capable of producing an upset. This will be a much harder campaign than 2003.

The competition is formidably unpredictable - do England still have the heart for a war of attrition at a water-logged Murrayfield, or the staying power to withstand all the French will throw at them in Paris?

England will not be travelling to the Stade de France in an open-topped bus on March 27th.

The likely tournament decider will take place in an atmosphere of supreme hostility against the only other genuinely world-class team in the competition.

Woodward still commands the best team in the world, but this is a different kind of challenge from the World Cup, and it will take just as impressive performances to win it.