Wallabies captain picked up record eighth yellow card of his Test career and had a try disallowed as tourists endured miserable day at the office against EnglandLast week’s abiding rugby image was of a smiling Kurtley Beale, clad only in his budgie smugglers, standing next to Prince William. Seven days on, it was a story of canary yellow and pursed lips. Australia and Beale had their moments, but the loss of two key players to the sin-bin and some desperately tight refereeing calls ultimately denied the visitors another victory party.Had they kept 15 men on the field throughout, who knows? While England looked far more lively, particularly after Maro Itoje’s introduction, they were up against opponents who, on a drier...
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...
‘If he wants to play it that way that’s totally fine with me,’ says Cheika after coaches swap taunts over scrummaging styles before Saturday’s TestPerhaps it was the embarrassment of being the first Australian coach to lose a home series to England that did it, or possibly it was being mocked up as a clown last month. Or maybe just a bad night’s sleep, but after turning the other cheek to Eddie Jones time and again during the summer Michael Cheika has now shown a willingness to engage with his compatriot. And then some. Related: Michael Cheika: Eddie Jones’s ‘vitriolic’ Australia comments tarnish his legacy Related: Michael Cheika retaliates by accusing Dan Cole of illegal scrummaging Continue reading...
Eddie Jones’ side make case for defence against the Pumas before taking on Michael Cheika’s Australia and Six Nations has edge over Rugby Championship Related: England and Owen Farrell dig deep to win 14-man battle with Argentina Related: Eddie Jones sets his sights on Australia after ‘outstanding performance’ Continue reading...