When the International Rugby Board started its world rankings England were the best team in the world. Six years on, they stand in eighth position, their lowest ever, proof of their inexorable decline since their now team manager, Martin Johnson, lifted the Webb Ellis Trophy in 2003.

Successive away defeats to Wales and Ireland have dragged England down from sixth at the start of the Six Nations to eighth in the latest rankings table, which was released today. Johnson has come under fire, with England winning only two of his seven matches in charge, against the Pacific Islanders and Italy, but the decay set in long before his arrival.

It could get worse. England will drop to ninth if they fail to win their last two Six Nations matches, against France and Scotland at Twickenham, but they are also only a couple of big victories away from fourth-placed Argentina. While the top three teams – New Zealand, South Africa and Australia – are comfortably ahead of the chasing pack, little separates the Pumas from the English.

 Wales have slipped from fourth to fifth after losing to France last Friday night while Les Bleus have leapfrogged England. Ireland remain in fifth, but a first grand slam since 1948 would take them above Wales.

 England have won only 50% of their Six Nations matches since winning the World Cup six years ago. Only three of their last 12 away matches in the championship have ended in victory, two of them in Rome, while their record against the major southern hemisphere nations since 2003 is dire.

 England have won none of their seven Tests against the All Blacks in the past six years, two out of eight against South Africa and two in seven against Australia, a total of four wins in 22 Tests with only one coming since the beginning of 2007.

 In contrast, England won 12 consecutive matches against the three southern hemisphere heavyweights between 2000 and 2003, culminating in the victory over Australia in the World Cup final in Sydney, a success that followed a Six Nations grand slam. In a period of nine months that year, they defeated every one of the other nations in the top 10 of the world rankings, but their fall since then leaves them unsure of when their next victory will be.

Scotland V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality

I am sure my fellow resident on these pages, Brian Moore - with whom I have more than once enjoyed banter on the airwaves - will welcome a calibrated alternative view of the events of March 17, 1990, when Scotland beat England to win the Grand Slam at Murrayfield.

Glory day: Chris Gray, David Sole and Finlay Calder celebrate during the 13-7 Grand Slam victory over England at Murrayfield Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Brian believes – understandably given the way the sky fell on England that afternoon – that almost supernatural forces propelled Tony Stanger across the line for the Scots' winning try.

In his book, Beware of the Dog, which has rattled a few cages north of the border, Brian states that antipathy towards Margaret Thatcher, loathing of the poll tax and downright xenophobic anti-Englishness were behind Scotland's greatest ever victory on the rugby field.

Well, it is certainly true that the Iron Lady was not held in the highest regard in Scotland but the day she was demonised at a sporting event was when she turned up at Hampden Park for the Celtic v Dundee United Scottish Cup final in 1985.

She was greeted with a mass display of red cards in protest against health service cuts and then had to sit through a barrage of songs and chants of such profanity – including one about her husband, Denis – that they cannot be hinted at here.

By contrast, Murrayfield, with its large numbers of supporters drawn from the Scottish public and private school system, was much more like Thatcher's natural constituency.

As for the poll tax, while substantial numbers protested by refusing to pay in Scotland, there was no civil disorder.

In fact, the worst violence, which left5,000 injured and led to 339 arrests – happened in Trafalgar Square exactly two weeks after David Sole's side won the Grand Slam.

On the other hand, a certain frisson may have been created by the evident assumption on the part of several English players that they had only to turn up to collect the prize – hence their insistence on being photographed underneath the posts with the rugby WAGs an hour before kick-off, an event noted by the home support and players.

And, as my wife and I left Murrayfield that day, we came across a white woollen sweater trampled into the mud.

It bore the red rose crest, around which were the words "England 1990 Grand Slam Winners".

I have always regretted that we didn't take it home and stick it in the wash.

Still – and my dear friend Brian will be the first to say as much – it is never too late to cleanse the doors of perception.

Scotland V England Hospitality

Six Nations Hospitality