It looks as if it’s Michael Cheika’s shout after round four of a rivalry that has been as intense off the field as on it again goes the way of Eddie Jones’s EnglandIf they ever met for that beer afterwards, Michael Cheika no doubt told his old mate to enjoy this while it lasts. Not that his friendship with Eddie Jones, which stretches way back to their playing days at Randwick, has looked particularly solid this year. It looked strained during the summer, but seemed to fall apart altogether in the buildup to this, the fourth instalment of the Eddie and Mikey show. Let’s hope they did meet for that beer. Rugby’s too trivial a thing to fall out over.Still,...
An inability to maintain their highest standard gives them plenty to improve upon as they seek to overtake New ZealandThree minutes from full time, the crowd roused itself for one last blast of Swing Low. Not in exhortation, now, but celebration. England were leading by 16 points, and Australia, a man down after Dane Haylett-Petty had been sent to the sin-bin, were scrambling to escape from underneath their own posts. The only question left was how many England were going to win by. Soon enough, the final whistle went and the international year was over. England finish it undefeated, with 13 wins out of 13, through the Six Nations, the summer tour and the autumn series. It is the first...
As England seek to match their record of 14 straight victories, the industry and attitude of Eddie Jones’s side are increasingly resembling Sir Clive Woodward’s team of 2003It does not feel like 13 years ago that Dorian West was sitting in Aix-en-Provence discussing his surprise at being named captain of England for the first – and, as it turned out, only – time. Clive Woodward’s side had not lost in 18 months and, even with a few reserves playing, there was no expectation of his squad’s 14-game unbeaten run approaching its end.If England could have their time again, would they have taken that distant 2003 game in Marseille more seriously? In many ways France’s 17-16 win did not matter hugely,...
The Australia fly-half was below par for much of the year but is back in form and is set to be a key player on Saturday at Twickenham – where he has run rings round England beforeOf all the enduring images from England’s 20-point thrashing by Australia at last year’s World Cup – and there were a fair few – perhaps Joe Launchbury’s misery when collecting a thoroughly undeserved man-of-the-match award best sums up the stark humiliation of it all.There were numerous better performers that night, all wearing green and gold, and none more so than Bernard Foley, scorer of two tries – the first of which left Launchbury with a face full of grass - and 28 points in...
Famous victories combined with the improvement of England and Scotland will have Warren Gatland believing a historic series win is not impossibleEngland still have one game to go but for the rest of the home nations the autumn internationals are done. Regardless of Saturday’s Twickenham outcome it will be remembered as one of the more intriguing periods of recent times, particularly in relation to the British and Irish Lions tour next year. Suddenly there are glimmers of realistic hope where once there was only dense black nothingness.For this Ireland, above all, deserve immense credit. As well as defeating New Zealand for the first time in 111 years they saw off Australia and South Africa as well, breathing encouraging fresh Gaelic...