Marcus Smith and George Furbank shine after captain Owen Farrell has to pull out following positive Covid testIt is not often that England have played without Owen Farrell under Eddie Jones so perhaps the greatest significance of this overwhelming victory against Tonga is that maybe they have finally proved they can cope without him. Certainly, if Farrell’s absence was the talk of Twickenham beforehand, Marcus Smith’s eye-catching cameo ensured his was the name on supporters’ lips on the journey home.Farrell was, of course, ruled out here due to his positive Covid-19 test but there have been only three occasions in Jones’s previous 66 matches in charge when England’s captain was available for selection but overlooked from the squad. Continue reading...
Fly-half’s first appearance for his country since suffering a serious knee injury more than two years ago is soured by a heavy defeat against New ZealandHave the old songs ever sounded so sweet or been sung so loud? After 18 months of Test matches played in front of piped-in crowds, they finally had a full house at the Principality, almost 80,000 in, and 80 minutes against the All Blacks ahead.In those first few moments, in the silence that fell for the haka and the first swell of Cwm Rhondda that followed, all the worries, whys, and wherefores about Wales’s missing players, the wrangle between clubs and countries, and what it all means about the state of the international game, slipped...
Wales v New Zealand has become more about dosh than bosh – change is needed if the sport wants a rosier futureRadical change in rugby union never comes galloping over the horizon. If it ever comes it meanders through multiple committees, many of whom meet for hours on Zoom without recognising the inherent irony. Quick ball is the holy grail for good teams on the pitch but, off it, a static rolling maul of conflicting interests and financial expediency is more common.Which helps explain why the sport is back scrabbling for fig leaves just when it should be displaying its most photogenic side to the world. Wales against New Zealand in Cardiff used to be one of the game’s most...
Kyle Sinckler summed up the ruthless physicality which proved just too much for Australia to handle as Twickenham witnessed a return to traditional valuesBeneath all the mud and muck, you can just about make out the faded “England 2015” branding the RFU put up around Twickenham for the last World Cup. No doubt they have tried to scrub it out, along with almost everything else that happened in that tournament, but the shadows of the letters are still there along either side of the pitch, a stubborn reminder of how quickly things can fall apart when the heavy pressure comes down. The next tournament is exactly 300 days away. England have come on this autumn, but they look a way...
Bad luck and glimmers of brilliance could not disguise another abject performance at the end of a grim year for the WallabiesThese are grim times for Australia. Outfought and outthought at the fag-end of a trying season, their annus horribilis ended in dismal fashion. The numbers tell the story – six straight defeats by England, nine losses in 2018 and their worst calendar year for more than half a century. Michael Cheika had called for some Aussie swagger but the daggers will be out again after this. Related: Australia’s Michael Cheika fury over ‘ridiculous’ Owen Farrell tackle Related: England 37-18 Australia: how the players rated at Twickenham Continue reading...