I wonder if Eddie is going to shock Wales and play for territory and back the defence to pin Wales back and see if he can choke them in the same way they did Ireland. I do worry that England are susceptible to line breaks and they miss a slighty worrying amount tackles.
I agree Wales will be better positionly then Ireland and France have been but when the kicking is accurate it is still hard to deal with. England like to kick very close to the touch line and tackle into touch gaining both in pocesion and territory.
Going to be tough game win lose or draw.

I don’t assume England will just blow Wales away the Welsh defense is well organized and disciplined . I am old enough (unfortunately) to never believe we will beat Wales . I think the England kicking game is used to create space and manipulate defences. No side has a perfect defensive system there will be space somewhere. If the defensive line is stressed you have to bring in extra defenders from the back field and Daley and Slade are watching for this and England will watch for this. If the defenders don’t come up eventually there will be space somewhere in the defensive line the question for England is can they keep the ball though multiple phase and can they stop the Welsh loosies from slowing it down enough for the defense to reorganize. Last year the answer was no.
I worry Gatland will use very similar tactics against us and we like Ireland and France will struggle to cope especially if the Welsh back row can there faster than the English back row.

Not sure what the political situation has to do with it. As a rule I try not mix politics and sport.
You seem quite down on England as rugby side at the moment. You suggest that our kicking is the best but also it will not work against Wales as they have a solid back 3.
Josh Adams is still pretty raw, North is actually poor defensively Williams is a hell of player though.
I suspect England will mix up power runners and kicks to create space to run into if it is on the edges of the defensive line or kick behind when the wingers push up to cover that space or simply kick for territory and pressure the Welsh lineout as it is not functioning smoothly at the moment. I suspect England will maul more then they have done to see if they can force the Welsh backs to lend a hand then look to exploit the space they came from. Wales look to dominate the breakdown and starve England of quality front door quick ball.

Yet they were adequately replaced in the autumn.
Normally I look forward to to your articles as both informative and entertaining with little bias but in this article and the comments you have let your standards slip. Did someone in the England camp kick your dog?

Counter arguement is that he broke the team in the first place.

Against a rush defence if the ball goes quickly deep and wide the rush defence becomes too narrow and space will open up on the outside. Get it wrong and there is little time to recover and you are behind the gain line.

I suspect that the Wallabies will end up with a winning record this year however they if lose to both England and The Darkness then the Wallabies will have not won a game against the top 5 rank sides, although they will not play Ireland this year. Even so I still think Chieka will think he has ended the year in a stronger place than he started.

Kruis or Lawes will call England’s line out if they are still fit (loads of players suffering injuries and knock outs this season in the AP). I agree that I don’t think the England pack is better scrumaging unit then the AB’s however the English line out is real strength both offensively and defensively if Kruis is calling. Kruis and Borthwick share a common obession with the line out.

I suspect England will have Kruis and Itoje in the 2nd row and Lawes at 6. In the modern game a strong line out is essential and Lawes is very good 6 as well as a world class line out operator and Jones will have to find a way to play both Lawes and Itoje who have both be outstanding in every round this season I suspect Jones will have to eat his words and play Robshaw at 7 if he recovers from the weekend.

Not the most reliable of sources I have to say.

To the UK press Eddie says he is not looking past the Argentina game. I don’t believe he fears Australia but he will still have respect for them. You have the makings of a good team but with team selection issues hampering your effectiveness at the breakdown and your defence not totally convincing Eddie has reasons to be confident England’s smothering defence will keep you on the back foot forcing you to play in the wrong half of the pitch. Plus England’s bench is stronger than the Wallabies so will expect to raise the intensity as the match goes on.

Sort out the breakdown and continue to tighten your defence and Eddies respect will only rise. I suspect that with Chieka still running the show this unlikely to change much, it sucks when your coach can’t see what everyone else can see.

Have to agree that Foley is major weakness in the Aussie side. What he can’t do outweighs the what he brings. Because of his lack of tactical kicking game you play the game in the wrong areas, his kicking is very short and again you the play the game in the wrong area of the pitch. Pick a fly half who can pass OK and kick well and at least you will be playing the game in the right areas the are 5 other backs who can offer creativity . At the very least you need a 12 with kicking game.

I watched yesterdays game, wanting the Aussies to win which is an odd feeling for an Englishman I can tell you, and was struck by the following thoughts

1) Aussie selection is still based round a tiny back row. Why? This idea has been exposed time and time again against the worlds top sides. It meant that you where unable to slow down the AB ball and had to defend wave upon of AB attacks at pace not surprised that you missed a lot of tackles.

2) Why are there so many moving parts in the Aussie defence? You have to defend in the position you are selected otherwise any confusion will create gaps in the defence for the opposition to exploit. Never a good thing if you are effectively letting them have quick ball as well.

3) Kicking game you just have to develop one. Surely your coaches can see that?

4) There where major improvements in the second half. Yes I know lots will say the AB’s lost interest but that does not explain why the AB bench failed to make their usual impression. The AB’s have a reputation for being supermen of rugby but put under pressure they make the same mistakes that players in the rest of the world do, miss tackles, fail to catch passes and take poor decisions. The Aussie where immensely better in the second half and the AB’s found it much harder to impose their style of play in the face of a more aggressive team.

5) The AB’s seem to have a new defensive system where only 3 players advance with really quick line speed. Move the ball deeper and quickly and you will find a dogs leg defensive shape and that is where you need to attack.

6) The Aussie fitness does look to improved so if the selection improves to include a kicking game and players who can defend the position they where chosen things will get better and probably quicker than you imagine.

Apprarentley World Rugby issued guidance to the refs not to allow this and the Italians intended to do this until they were told they would not be allowed.

So you are suggesting that top level teams add a lawyer to the coaching staff?

Thanks. The referee would not English players pull the Italians into a ruck they had to choose to go in hence the discussions with the referee. To me that is the simplest solution allow the attacking side to pull defenders into a ruck creating an offside line then play rugby, providing the attacker has entered via gate as if entering an actual ruck and the did not move passed the ball.
BTW I predict that England will use the tackle only tactic to squeeze the Scottish backs as we have a much stronger pack and should be able to counter the pick and go and Scotland will risk turnovers if they try setting up a maul. I hope I am wrong but Eddie Jones is pragmatist and this tactic will give us a massive advantage against some very good Scottish backs and a weak Scottish Pack.

Clearly Spiro was watching while half asleep. England where countering by around 27 mins with quick and goes but they still want to form a ruck and create an off side line. \they where not asking the referee to tell them how they should be playing but how they could form a ruck. When Haskell asked could he create a ruck by pulling in defenders or clearing players out he was told he could not and would be penalised, this was the tactic that Wasps and SH teams have used previously to counter the problem this was the source of England’s confusion.

As for wanting this tactic banning too bloody right. Forgetting the fact it will take physicality out of the game it can and will be used to cut down the space available to the backs. If you commit only one tackler than a screen of defensive forwards to cover the pick and go you can then push your defensive line right up giving the backs no time or space to work in without having players stood between the half backs, as Italy did you can keep your defensive line intact. against teams with a blitz defence there will be no time to kick with the huge risk of a charge down and long passes will be riskier with much more chance of an interception and have little impact because the defence is so pushed up it will not create space. Rugby will then be bloody boring if this is allowed to continue happening.

As England I thought Italy came up with a clever innovation and I like seeing England have to change their style mid game but watching a replay of the game I saw several examples of the English defence doing what I described above and that should not be allowed to happen.

Ireland do score tries but generally after the forwards have battered their way over the line the Irish pack is as impressive as the backs are meh.

Would never say this in North Hemisphere blog but Ireland have a tough well drilled back and backs who just aren’t that threatening. If they had any potency in the backs then they would probably have beat NZ in the second match given there territory and possession but they just kept battering away with the big forwards and NZ where happy to soak it up.

You seem to have missed the most likely issues
1) Fitness England have been fitter than you all year but because you guys thought that you where fitter than us in the summer it has been ignored but was crystal clear yesterday.
2) Nous you don’t have much. England looked fitter stronger faster and more in control of themselves than the Aussie. Once England changed from passive to aggressive defence you lacked effective ball carriers and needed a good kicking game to relieve the pressure but you just kept trying to run from your own 22. England on the other hand changed their game plan exerted control to slow your game down and that took away Aussie momentum and then they raised their own tempo and the Aussies struggled to live with them. Australia just stuck to the same plan and experienced first hand the law of diminishing returns.
3) You really missed Genia

Say In the North of England watch frost form on my lawn I thoughly agree we are enjoying our rugby but it is definitely not in the sun.

The Wallabies defence was not as tested as much asyou think, the Irish had no guile. England’s backs will be s much sterner test generally quick and more skillful and smarter than the Irish if our forwards win up front England should win but your backs are bloody good and can win matches without much possession. Promises to be good game with huge Aussies potentially on the end 4-0 this year to the poms but also with chance to end England’s unbeaten run and prevent a year unbeaten for England.

You can’t play 10 man rugby you just have not got the quality of forwards to do that. Which of your forwards would get in the NZ Eng or Ireland teams? I would suggest none and none

I think you have a poor pack and some seriously good backs and I always think England will lose to you guys (suspect you guys will win on Saturday) but normally you have players with rugby smarts who can apdat but I don’t see that in your current side and I think that is a major factor as to why you have lost against the top sides this season.

Not sure Coleman would be anywhere near the 2 XV world NZ have 2 locks who are better and England have 4.

Generally I thought that as England played you guys earlier in the year Pooper (Similar stragtgy and effect when Mcmarhan* played) unbalanced your back row and was further compounded by Hooper continually played wide.

Now you seem to have no forward ball carriers to further to your problems Ireland have 4 effective ball carriers. I expect Ireland to kick behind Speight often and see if they can force poor clearing kicks and to try and keep you penned in your half and try to squeeze you to death and try and batter away at your line and I expect Ireland will win the gain line battle.

Not predecting a winner cause you backs still scare me and will keep you in the games against most teams but I suspect your pack is in for a long afternoon and if you win your backs are likely to be living of scraps and will need to use the ball effectively and they very capable of doing so and it will be close.

*sorry can not spell to save my life

Halfpenny will not be in the matchday squad if Sexton or Farrell play. Other than his kicking he is pretty ordinary.