Absorbing, compelling and utterly unique. Those are the first words that spring to mind if you ask me to describe yesterday's Test match. It was the closest 30-6 victory that I've witnessed and it’s no wonder that Eddie Jones and his side were quietly content with their afternoon’s work. Australia are an excellent side and yet the game was snatched away from them.
After what can only be described as a slightly 'flat' atmosphere at Twickenham Stadium last weekend, the stadium rocked with noise from the very first 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' after just three minutes to England's final try one minute after the clock went red.
After what can only be described as a slightly 'flat' atmosphere at Twickenham Stadium last weekend, the stadium rocked with noise from the very first 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot' after just three minutes to England's final try one minute after the clock went red.
“Tactically we played smart, we read the conditions, it was difficult conditions for both teams and I thought we played them superbly," said England's head coach after the game.
"We had the confidence that we would finish the game stronger than they would.”
The most effective sporting teams in the world have the ability to take a closely-fought game away from their opponents in the blink of an eye and on Saturday that was exactly what England did. It would be remiss of me not to mention the decisions that were key talking points however they're part and parcel of sport. England's reaction to them, and indeed Owen Farrell's few words to the referee during Australia's second disallowed try, were a mark of the streetwise nature that's developed under Eddie Jones. In years gone by matches like Saturday's would have been lost, now they're won and won well.
England’s head coach has etched the word ‘finishers’ into all of our vocabularies and boy did we see his set in full flow. The Australian always talks about the quality of the 80 minutes that Dylan Hartley & Jamie George provide him in the front row and without question the same must be said about Ben Youngs & Danny Care. The creativity that the latter brought to the game was undoubtedly one of the deciding points of the match whilst the work of the former must be credited too. Ben Youngs controlled England’s outing, alongside George Ford and Owen Farrell, and the Leicester scrum-half created opportunities from his boot too. Elsewhere England's replacement front row maintained the standards at the set piece and Maro Itoje's early introduction sent excited ripples of noise around Twickenham Stadium.
As a collective England's pack were tasked with 'physically dominating' their opponents and it's fair to say that they did a pretty good job of that. Much to the delight of England's fans in the stands Courtney Lawes introduced himself (in his trademark fashion) to Kurtley Beale early on and it went from there. As just mentioned England's starting and finishing front rows scrummaged hard whilst Joe Launchbury and Chris Robshaw led the work rate in defence with 19 and 11 tackles respectively. England's line speed caused Australia plenty of issues, indeed their defence is becoming world leading, and without question they will look to blow Samoa away in this area next weekend.
An element that I’m sure Eddie Jones and his side will highlight as a work on behind closed doors is the fact that they haven't fully capitalised on sin bin periods during this autumn series. Last weekend against Argentina, and again yesterday, numerical advantages weren’t ruthlessly exploited and that must be turned around and fixed as the side move towards Rugby World Cup 2019.
England’s victory over Australia not only secured their position as the second best Test side in the world but it was their fifth successive victory over their age old rivals. The only other English Test side to do that was the one led by Martin Johnson and coached by Sir Clive Woodward. As we know this type of record matters little to the current captain and head coach however it is another statistical illustration of the progression of this Test side. England remain undefeated at Twickenham Stadium under Eddie Jones and I expect that statement to ring true this time next week too.
