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Since Eddie Jones took over as coach, England have won their first grand slam Six Nations championship since 2003, and claimed their first away series win over the Wallabies, to catapult from eighth in the world rankings to two, pushing Australia to three.
The latest spectacular result has prompted many Roarers to either praise Jones for out-manoeuvring Michael Cheika, take the Wallaby coach to task for not having a Plan B, argue his selection policy isn’t working, or blame him for the Wallabies lack of depth.
» Where does your side stand? View the up to date World Rugby Rankings
To be fair, if David Pocock, Kurtley Beale, Kane Douglas, Rob Simmons, Joe Tomane, and Will Genia had played against England in the first two Tests, the Wallabies would have been a lot more competitive.
That’s the luck of the draw.
But it prompted me to delve into Wallaby Test matches since the most capped and the current captain, Stephen Moore, made his debut against Samoa on June 11, 2005, at Stadium Australia.
The Wallabies romped in 74-7, crossing for 12 tries to one.
And who was the Wallaby coach?
Eddie Jones.
Moore was Wallaby jumper 796, and since then there have been 98 new Wallabies in 11 years.
In that time, the Wallabies have played 152 Tests, winning 86, losing 62, and drawing four, with a win ratio of 56.58 per cent.
The Wallabies have scored 3914 points to 3107, touching down for 437 tries to 274.
The breakdown:
Jones – with his last 13 Tests for five wins, and eight losses.
John Connelly – 25 Tests for 16 wins, eight losses, and a draw.
Robbie Deans – 74 Tests with 43 wins, 29 losses, and two draws.
Ewen McKenzie – 22 Tests, for 11 wins, 10 losses, and a draw.
Cheika – 18 Tests for 11 wins, and seven losses.
Hardly impressive and proving over the long journey, the Wallabies constantly do it tough.
In that period, the Springboks won the 2007 Rugby World Cup, while the All Blacks won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups, beating the Wallabies in the latter’s decider.
So the All Blacks, Boks, and Wallabies have been the benchmark of world rugby over the last 11 years and a fairer way to judge how the men in gold rate.
Against the All Blacks:
Jones – two Tests, scoring 37 points to 64, with five tries to seven.
Connelly – five Tests, for 309 points to 464, with 30 tries to 44.
Deans – 18 Tests for 309 points to 464, with 30 tries to 64.
McKenzie – six Tests for 138 points to 2097, with 54 tries to 117.
Cheika – three Tests, for 57 points for 94, with six tries to 10.
Sum total of those 34 Tests against the men in black – 621 points for, 949 against, scoring 57 tries to 96.
It’s been a lot closer against the Boks:
Jones – four Tests scoring 85 points to 99, with 10 tries to six.
Connelly – five Tests with 129 points to 81, scoring 12 tries to seven.
Deans – 14 Tests with 314 points 328, scoring 30 tries to 31.
McKenzie – four Tests with 54 points to 117, scoring four tries to 12.
Cheika – just one Test with 24 points to 20, scoring three tries to two.
Overall against the Boks in 28 Tests – 606 points for to 635 against, scoring 64 tries to 60.
Hardly a struck match between the Wallabies and South Africa.
But wins are the only currency.
Just five Wallaby wins out of the last 34 Tests makes the All Blacks the undisputed top side in world rugby.
But the Wallabies are the second best in the last 11 years, with 16 wins over the Boks from 28 meetings.
Rugby fans will get a more precise look at current Wallaby strength when they defend the Rugby Championship later this year.