One thing is for certain, Eddie has not come to Australia to lose and he has a side capable of winning.
As an Aussie living in London for the past ten years, there is no greater time of anticipation for me than an England vs Australia Rugby Test. To have three to look forward to this month is sensational.
I am by no means an English Rugby expert, but over the past ten years I have closely followed the Premiership and Championship (England’s second tier). I hope I can offer fellow Aussies some insight into what to expect from England.
Firstly, it must be said that Eddie Jones has turned England around in a quite extraordinary fashion. To say that the recriminations after the World Cup were vicious would be an understatement. The English team was kicked from pillar to post not just by the press but by almost every ‘fan’. There is no equivalent of that degree of vitriol or venom in Australia in my opinion.
To turn England into Six Nation Champions some six months after the World Cup experience was a either a miracle or an incredible act of coaching. So how is Eddie doing it?
Obviously, the word on the street is that Eddie is doing what Eddie does. Taking training, fitness, preparation and commitment to new levels. Certainly fitness and conditioning in England has not seen anything like it. It’s obsessive.
Eddie is almost the Jose Mourinho of Rugby. His approach seems to have a similar intensity and players respond, at least initially. Eddie hasn’t won as much as the Special One but Eddie intends to change that in 2019.
Jones has also taken two key coaching personnel from Saracens. ‘Sarries’ are the most successful English club in recent times, having won the European and English double this season and interestingly are a club with a strong South African influence.
Steve Borthwick the former Sarries and England captain has been signed to sure up England’s traditional set piece strengths. Paul Gustard, the former Saracens defence coach has been brought in to coach a ‘wolf pack’ defence. One that swarms and reduces space but can be breached with creativity and intelligence.
Perhaps most significantly, Gustard has also provided a link to England’s most promising ‘next generation players’ who alarmingly have now won a grand slam as relative babies. It is here where Eddie has been very astute.
The youth coming through England Rugby at the moment, particularly through Saracens, is incredible.
Billy Vunipola, a Kefu-like No.8 is a sensational ball carrier but wasn’t fit enough in the past. Owen Farrell, a tenacious and aggressive 10 or 12 is mastering his game and learning what options to take and when. England’s group of locks are now athletic and powerful but do the basics right also. George Kruis, another Saracens player is joined by Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes as three very capable locks both in the set piece and open play.
Yet the biggest story player wise is Maro Itoje, yet another Saracen. Physically, you won’t find a player more suited to the international game and he is only 22. He is big bodied, tall and aerobically can play as a lock or in the back row. Not just that, but he has leadership skills, intelligence and game nous to excel. In the past three years he has won a junior World Cup, English Premiership, European Championship and Six Nations grand slam.
Barring a disastrous injury, Itoje will be talked about in the same breath as John Eales, Victor Matfield and Martin Johnson in time. He may even be better than all three He is that good.
Eddie has built his pack around this nucleus of young Saracens. Kruis, Itoje and the Vunipola brothers. He has realised that to compete with the Southern Hemisphere, he needed athletes.
England needed not just weight but athleticism across the board. Oddly, this concept has been lost in England for far too long. Watching the English forwards run ragged in October (or was it even September) last year was the straw that broke the camel’s back for English Rugby, at least at international level.
Eddie’s selections reflect this new push to athleticism, power and dare I say it, mongrel. Dylan Hartley, Lawes, Itoje and James Haskell will not submit like England did in 2015.
There are some contentious areas and surprises. And still some weaknesses.
George Ford has been dropped. Surprising as he started most Six Nations games at 10 and also the warm up against Wales last weekend. Not altogether unexpected as he’s low on confidence and struggling for form. Eddie may feel the risk of Samu Kerevi and Michale Hooper running at the 10/12 channel all game is one he doesn’t want to expose Ford to.
Oddly, both Australia and England seem to have selection problems in the midfield. Both have gone for safe bets in Kerevi and Luther Burrell respectively who are full of line breaking potential and solid defensively.
Also selected are two out and out fliers on the wings. Yarde and Watson can both finish and have pace to burn, far greater pace than either Dane Haylett-Petty or Rob Horne.
Some thought Itoje may start at 6 but Eddie has gone for two ‘6 and a halves’ in Haskell and Chris Robshaw. England still struggle to find a 7 and this is a big problem in Australia for Eddie.
In my opinion this is because the value of open-side flankers has not been realised until recently in England, a bit like tight-head props and scrum coaches in Australia. Not having a Liam Gill, Hooper or David Pocock in your team on a wet, muddy February day in Leicester is all well and good until you host a World Cup in September.
It is the back row where the game will be won or lost. Not in the tight five or midfield.
Also worth mentioning is the comparative strengths of the benches. I don’t want to go into the Wallaby selections too much, but I must admit the bench was the one area that disappointed me, particularly the selection of Dean Mumm and to a lesser extent James Horwill.
Although Horwill has been great at Harlequins in London, I’m not sure he has the pace in his hamstrings to make an impact off the bench these days.
England’s bench has aggression and punch in abundance. Having Luke Cowan-Dickie, Lawes and Launchbury all to call on is significant. The Wallaby bench and especially Horwill and Sean McMahon will really need to stand up and be counted.
It will be a special occasion in Brisbane, and a cracking game.
England team to play Australia
15. Mike Brown, 14. Anthony Watson, 13. Jonathan Joseph, 12. Luther Burrell, 11. Marland Yarde, 10. Owen Farrell, 9. Ben Youngs, 1. Mako Vunipola, 2. Dylan Hartley, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. George Kruis, 6. Chris Robshaw, 7. James Haskell, 8. Billy Vunipola.Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Matt Mullan, 18. Paul Hill, 19. Joe Launchbury, 20. Courtney Lawes, 21. Danny Care, 22. George Ford, 23. Jack Nowell.
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