“There's nothing better than an Australia versus England sporting contest. I'm looking forward to Saturday, it should be a ripper of a game.”
Two sentences from Eddie Jones that hit the nail on the head because today’s Test match should a belter. Last weekend’s Test against Argentina didn’t float too many people’s boats however we’re all expecting this afternoon's 80 minutes to be the anthesis of that in every sense.
The areas where England lacked cohesion last weekend should be back to their fluid and cohesive best. The slightly quiet and pensive atmosphere at Twickenham Stadium should be replaced with the passion that’s reserved for one of England’s greatest sporting foes. Finally, with all due respect to Argentina, the quality of rugby that the away side will deliver will be far superior to anything that we saw last weekend from the visitors. Australia are a side that are brimming with confidence and form and at their best will pose great questions of England at this moment in time.
Personnel wise England’s backline houses the familiar and exceptional glue of George Ford and Owen Farrell which will add greatly in attack and defence.
With Australia’s threats, particularly Kurtley Beale, the vocal presence of Farrell needs to be there to secure England’s line and quickly react to what will be thrown at them. As firm as England held up last weekend, the questions that will be asked of them this afternoon will be much more testing ones. Will Genia is a constant threat, we all know how much Bernard Foley loves facing England at Twickenham and the aforementioned Kurtley Beale flies all over the park.
When it comes to the home side’s attack then the bedding in issues that were present last weekend won’t be there and immediately that provides the opportunity for confidence to emanate off Ford and Farrell. Games become clunky and disjointed off the back of basic errors and neither England’s ten or 12 will make them today. There's no questioning the fact that lives will be made easier if England do as their head coach demands and 'physically dominate' Australia.
When it comes to the home side’s attack then the bedding in issues that were present last weekend won’t be there and immediately that provides the opportunity for confidence to emanate off Ford and Farrell. Games become clunky and disjointed off the back of basic errors and neither England’s ten or 12 will make them today. There's no questioning the fact that lives will be made easier if England do as their head coach demands and 'physically dominate' Australia.
Out the back England's 11, 14 and 15 have pace to burn and going forwards are as dynamic as they come. Jonny May's try-scoring record at Leicester speaks for itself, Anthony Watson's prior performances at full back indicate he is likely to be able to handle the occasion today and Elliot Daly must step up physically sharing a wing with Marika Koroibete. As a unit their own cohesiveness will be greatly tested, as will their high ball prowess, and they must pass with flying colours to provide the security that their side needs.
Since Eddie Jones took over as England’s head coach, almost exactly two years ago, his presence has added another dimension to Test weeks against Australia. Whilst we’re all used to him being at the helm it doesn’t stop weeks like this one being filled with that little bit more intrigue to see what ‘pleasantries’ may be aimed his way. The past seven days have housed accusations of England’s ‘bullying’ tactics and a word or two about Eddie Jones being ‘a little bit spoilt’ when it comes to resources.
The messages out of England’s camp from the man himself have been quite measured and calm. England's head coach has been an ever-present fixture at their media days this week and he has been keeping the messages fairly uniform. The Australian simply wants his side to play 'good English rugby', to ‘physically dominate’ Australia and use a key advantage that he believes that they have over Australia. That advantage is that the Wallabies haven't been able to get over the line against England for the past four Tests.
The rainfall that was promised has just started to fall here at Twickenham Stadium and I truly hope that the conditions won't play any part in this encounter because England have a point to prove and so do Australia. The final point of note is that it's winner takes all today when it comes to the World Rugby rankings and the #2 position in the world. It's a position that I believe that England take great pride in holding and one that Australia would dearly love to pinch from them.
England: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Nathan Hughes. Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Sam Simmonds, 21 Danny Care, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Semesa Rokoduguni.
