Shake it out: Improvement in order on both sides of the Tasman

What a day last Saturday was. First, I watched England take the All Blacks mighty close at Eden Park before, as I frantically filed copy deep into the night in the bowels of the emptying stadium – now officially a fortress not conquered in two decades – I kept one beady eye fixed on the Wallabies clash with the French at Suncorp.

Viewed back-to-back, as I’ve done once more since Saturday evening, the two matches were utterly compelling in their polarity.

At Eden Park, the watchwords were cagey, scrappy, tense and tight as both teams’ horrid handling, from kick and pass, saw the ball hit the deck with astonishing regularity.

At the end of a week that saw some frankly embarrassing treatment of England’s team by the Kiwi press and the bookies have them at odds as long as $20, this, despite Conrad Smith’s late try, was a triumph for Stuart Lancaster and his callow side. Surely a win on Southern soil isn’t too far off.

The proof of England’s effectiveness has been in evidence all over New Zealand since – from the Eden Park crowd’s 60th minute Mexican Wave (the atmosphere throughout was as hollow as an Easter Egg) to the All Black camp and fawning media’s assertion that they were looking to slow the game down as a result of poor fitness.

The statistics suggest that there was one team playing with pace, as England made more breaks, metres and carries. And I’d certainly advocate taking a moment more confirming line out calls if it’s going to lead to a record of 17 from 17.

Make no mistake, England are no longer nameless nobodies (nice one, Brodie) and the All Blacks are rattled.

Over the ditch, Suncorp served up a clash that bore few similarities. The visiting Northerners were as abject as their recent record suggested they’d be, while the new-look Wallabies hit their straps immediately, putting in a performance of great promise.

There were Reds, in the shape of James Slipper and Rob Simmons, who put their franchise’s travails behind them, bold calls in the back line that came good, with Nic White and Tevita Kuridrani performing impressively, as well as a display of leadership depth after Stephen Moore’s injury-enforced absence.

It was Moore’s replacement as skip, Michael Hooper, who provided the game’s one point of comparison with the clash at Eden Park. Both games were spun by a moment of ambition, an eye for an opportunity by the home team.

At 3-3 after 17 minutes, Hooper turned down points to chase a try and Izzy Folau – deadlock breaker extraordinaire – duly crossed. Likewise Aaron Cruden spurned a regulation three-point chance in favour of a quick tap that was rewarded as Smith (who else?) went over in the corner.

Cruden’s decision provides an interesting point of difference between the two teams. While Steve Hansen has admitted that his first thought as he saw his five-eighth hot-foot it towards the line was “good on ya, son”, Lancaster, sporting a wry smile, simply described the decision as “brave” and Owen Farrell, Cruden’s opposite number in Dunedin this week, has admitted that he would have taken the three points.

For all England’s improvement, do they possess the fearlessness, the belief, the cajones even, to make that maverick move and kill a big game against quality Southern Hemisphere opposition? The jury remains out.

Now the dust has settled, the word on everyone’s lips is improvement. How much scope is there for all four teams to up their games this week? After all, this was each side’s first run for a while, the Northerners were understrength and the Southerners rusty. In the words of Chris Robshaw: “Everyone is going to get better. The more time you play together, the more you will improve.” That seems sound enough logic to me.

In the case of France, surely the only way is up. The return of Thierry Dusautoir and Louis Picamoles to partner Damien Chouly – one of few bright spots – can not come soon enough, while Wesley Fofana, on the back of his worst game for France, can only improve when reigniting his potentially spectacular engage-evade partnership with the behemoth Mathieu Bastareaud. But it’ll take more than a few tweaks to find the panacea for Phillipe Saint-Andre’s team’s many ailments.

The Wallabies have thrown the gauntlet down and should now see a three-zip scoreline – all with margins as great as the 27 points they managed in Brisbane – as the bare minimum. That may sound demanding but now, with Ewen in the black and the French there for the taking (let’s not forget they’ve just one win against top eight opposition since beating Australia in November 2012), it’s time to get ruthless.

To do so, Bernard Foley and Matt Toomua, slick moving forward last week, must up their game in defence – you simply can’t have the five-eighths missing eight tackles between them. The set piece needs to be just as polished and the back line every bit as bold. Tick those boxes and the upward curve will continue.

England will be immensely wary of an All Blacks side with the frighteners on and a history of starting slowly. The returning Julian Savea has four tries in two games against England and it’s hard to believe that the back row and set piece will be dominated in the same way again – even if both tight fives have remained the same and there’s still no Kieran Read.

Those men in white are the hardest to place. Last week, they fielded a side containing barely a combination that had played together. As a result of their excellence, Lancaster hasn’t given a free pass to those who were unlucky to miss out due to incompetent administration.

Rob Webber, Geoff Parling and Ben Morgan did enough to keep three of the outstanding Six Nations performers – Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes and Billy Vunipola – warming the pine for another week.

Farrell, Billy Twelvetress and Luther Burrell – their creative midfield axis – have enough credit in the bank for another shot and Manu Tuilagi must wait on the wing. The vim, vigour and venture of Danny Care, injured fluffing a grubber in training last week, may be the most welcome return of the lot.

So back to that word, improvement. England, by accident or design, has developed depth but the guys on the sideline matter little if the blokes on the park don’t turn up and the All Blacks do. Then it’s series over. And unless those not-so-flamboyant French improve starkly, well, the Wallabies might have to look elsewhere for their Bledisloe preparation.