England v Australia - The Second Test Review

At the AAMI Park in Melbourne England Rugby made history and secured a Test series victory over Australia in the most remarkable fashion. It was the type of Test match that will be replayed for years to come and will go down in history as one of the best defensive efforts that we have ever seen from an International side.

The Class of 2003 used to use the call ‘hit the beaches’ when the going got tough. If Martin Johnson's voice boomed out those words it was the signal to up the intensity, put their bodies on the line and batten down the hatches. In Melbourne, this England side hit the beaches just before half-time and never really left them until Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje dislodged the ball out of Scott Fardy’s hands in the tackle which provided the turnover for Jamie George to work his magic from. 

Paul Gustard said after the game that he’d shared a poem with the side to focus their efforts ahead of the second-Test. The poem was by Dale Wimbrow called The Guy in the Glass. The words focus on seizing opportunity and answering to yourself in order to be satisfied that you’ve given everything possible for your cause and not wasted your opportunity. When you read the verse and reflect back on England’s heroics in Melbourne there’s a unity between his words of inspiration and England’s efforts. Of course such a verse was only one part of the preparation and after defensive shakes in Brisbane Paul Gustard's work on the training park during the week was vital to ensure that their structures were much stronger and that their spacing was more organised. 

From one to 15 England’s players worked themselves into the ground and found new depths to their fitness reserves. These depths were showcased by the fact that James Haskell and Chris Robshaw left the field with nothing left to give and both are players that have engines the size of HGVs. James Haskell looked as if he could barely run off the field such was his fatigue and his fellow back row partner Chris Robshaw was much the same. The latter marked his 50th cap in a fitting fashion, after what he's been through and the criticism thrown at him he deserves everything single moment of positive history, and joy created in the jersey. Chris Robshaw is at the heart of England's squad and if you take a moment to watch the video on of him receiving his cap online you'll see how much he, as an individual, means to his team mates. 

England's final tackle count recorded by Opta was 213 to Australia's 62; James Haskell made 21, Maro Itoje 20 and Billy Vunipola 21. Australia ran as much as they could down the fly-half channel in order to target the ‘little guy at 10’ but it didn’t work as George Ford repelled everything thrown at him manfully. Phase after phase, minute after minute England held firm and never once believed that they would be broken. On the other hand Australia clearly thought that their opponents would tire and that they would break because the home side turned down three second-half shots at goal in favour of more. They were wrong, England didn’t falter and instead with every opportunity the Wallabies missed Dylan Hartley’s men grew stronger and took a step closer to victory. 

(C) England Rugby

With England’s poor record in Australia, just three matches won there prior to this summer, many thought that this tour would derail their upwards trajectory. Instead the opening two Tests have cemented England’s belief and should help to accelerate their progress. From early on Eddie Jones said that his players didn’t realise how good they could be, but with back-to-back Test victories Down Under they will be starting to. Confidence in sport is a precious commodity and one that is often difficult to find and under the leadership of the Australian they should harness it in the right way. With the ceaselessly high standards that Eddie Jones is setting England won't be allowed to think that their current achievements are good enough and won't be allowed to rest until they are ranked No1 in the world and have won the Rugby World Cup in 2019. 

So what comes next? What happens after you secure a Test series and make history? Well, in Dylan Hartley's words England 'go again'. This was the message that he delivered on the field in Melbourne while still standing in his playing kit. England's captain knows that they are capable of a 3-0 series whitewash and their head coach expects nothing less. Both men aren’t taking anything away from the history that the side just created instead they are showing exactly the type of relentless pursuit for excellence that’s required to be the best in the world. From an English point of view the 80-minutes in Melbourne was a phenomenal Test match. England gave the ultimate display of physicality, unity and determination and duly achieved the result, and history, that they deserved.