Never mind the fact the European economy is going down the tubes faster than Australia's front row.

A cause of far greater immediate misery for the British rugby fan is the manner in which European national sides are being contemptuously masticated by the sharp-fanged beast that is Southern Hemisphere rugby. We're being mauled and munched to pieces, with the coaches of the northern sides having plenty of bones to pick over this week.

With the exception of the above- mentioned front row, Australia's ambidextrous, athletic side laid waste to England in Perth on Saturday, exposing the plodding, blunted, joyless thing that Red Rose rugby has become under Martin Johnson's stewardship.

Elsewhere, the All Blacks put 66 points over Ireland on North Island, although a laudable display of Celtic pluck gave the visitors four tries and ensured a veneer of respectability was retained.

A successful trip south of the equator also proved far beyond France, too. Any hope that the Six Nations champions would give the reigning world champions, South Africa, a bloody nose in their own backyard was snuffed out by a Springbok ruthlessness that the Home Nations know all about following the 2009 Lions tour.

The only side preserving northern dignity was Scotland, who put in a streetwise, steely display to win in Argentina – something England were unable to do this time last year.

Eyebrows were raised at the Scots' victory. And that's because wins for Northern Hemisphere sides south of the equator are now, once again, rarer than reliable English goalkeepers.

Remember the heady days of 2002? Those days when – in the run up to an Antipodean World Cup – England consistently beat their Southern Hemisphere opposition, even away from home? England cultivated an aura of impregnability back then, something they are a million miles away from constructing this time around.

Next year's World Cup will be played in New Zealand and, on the basis of last weekend's matches, the Northern Hemisphere sides may as well board flights to Pluto than Wellington.

Of course, things can change. Coaches can embark on tactical U-turns which suddenly make things click; players – mysteriously – can suddenly gel. But all that is hope rather then expectation for England at the moment, with the RFU showing no appetite to turn up the necessary heat on team manager Johnson.

So, what's up with England? I believe the national side can learn lessons from recent events at The Rec.

England are currently retreading the heavy, dispiriting path endured by Bath in the first three- and-a-half months of the last season (sorry to bring that painful period up again).

Back then, Bath – ponderous and on occasions curiously disengaged – just couldn't break the gain line. Their attacking play was devoid of cunning, even when their pack gave them a half-decent platform. The instinct to run with ball in hand was on occasions replaced by an inadequate kick-chase plan.

Bath found their way out of their attacking malaise when the return from injury of Olly Barkley allowed them to insert a second play-maker at second-receiver. There were other factors in their revival – the return of Butch James, the arrival of Luke Watson – but Barkley was not just a breath of fresh air, he was a gust of inventiveness.

Yet Johnson, so far, has confined Barkley to England's midweek XV. It is a decision as perplexing as it is preposterous. Handing the England number 12 shirt to Barkley – the most 'Australian' in his style of play of all the England backs – is the screamingly obvious thing for the team manager to do. There can be no sharper indictment of the current coaching staff than their reluctance to select him.