Replacing scrum-half before half-time turned the tide against Australia but could spell the end of his international careerEddie Jones has been in his element this week. Grinning from ear to ear back at his old stomping ground in Coogee, savouring the sense of familiarity and basking in the nostalgia of it all. His players, meanwhile, have been treated to afternoons off, free to explore – all part of Jones’s decision to empower this “new England” squad, to put his trust in them and to liberate them. Put it all together and it raised the question: has Jones, the notorious taskmaster, softened?The emphatic answer came three minutes before half-time at the Sydney Cricket Ground when Jones made one of his statement...
Saturday’s Test in Sydney will be a street fight in which Australia must match England for mongrel, then punish them with speed and skillThe first rugby international staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground was on 24 June, 1899. Australia wore sky blue jerseys, fielded two five-eighths and played two men in the front row. The British XV, featuring players from all four Home Nations, employed a tactic of dribbling the ball upfield at their feet in a rush. But it didn’t work. After being locked at 3-3 for most of the Test, Australia scored two converted tries in the final seven minutes to win 13-3.According to referee, WG Gerrard, Australia won because “they kept slogging all the time. They were...
Wins for Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland have set up the prospect of some history-making in the southern hemisphereOne weekend of eye-raising rugby results does not necessarily change the world. Equally, there has never been a day to compare with Saturday. A clean sweep of wins for Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland against the southern hemisphere’s top four teams is unique in the game’s history, despite the south hosting all four of the fixtures.No Irish or Welsh team had previously won in, respectively, New Zealand and South Africa. Now here they both are, just one final push away from winning a best-of-three series. The same is true of England and Scotland, who also bounced back from first Test disappointment to...
The heavyweight contest between the forwards lived up to the hype but England’s leader won a split decision against AustraliaHad things turned out differently, Ellis Genge and Taniela Tupou might have been lining up together in the same side when Australia and England took to the field in Brisbane. In 2014, Fe’ao Vunipola – father of Billy and Mako – had tried to persuade the 21-stone “Tongan Thor” to join the Premiership and, given he had not committed his international future at that stage, an England career would almost inevitably have followed.As it was, England was too far from his family for Tupou, Australia was not and eight years later, Genge and Tupou were lining up on opposing sides for...
England have made changes for the second Test in Australia with the World Cup in mind but the coach is on thin iceBacks against the wall, endless personnel reshuffles, constant talk about things coming good eventually. England are currently 12,000 miles away from Downing Street but their series against Australia is at a not dissimilar crossroads. Lose heavily on Saturday and, as in Westminster, public confidence in those in charge back in London may ebb away rapidly.Which is why Eddie Jones’s callow backline selection for the allegedly crucial second Test against the Wallabies has raised more than a few eyebrows. Three starting 21-year-olds, a 19-year-old “apprentice” on the bench and a debutant who used to captain the University of Sydney?...