Awards and reflections from the Australia vs England series

England win 3-nil. To some this was unexpected but to anyone who saw England during the Six Nations, or the Saracens stroll to the European and Domestic double, will have known this was a different England team to the one humiliated in the world cup.

Australia came into the series cold, not having played a Test in anger since the world cup final. The advantage was with England and, through Eddie Jones, they’d found a way to cope with the pressure of playing a southern hemisphere nation in their own back yard.

A series whitewash is an incredible achievement against a team of Australia’s quality, the challenge for both teams now is to move on and develop so they can consistently challenge New Zealand and make the international game competitive again.

But before that there are some awards to give out for what has been an incredible series.

Cotton-Ears
This award is dedicated to the Australian back row for demonstrating a consistent inability to hear or respond to the referee’s instructions.

This is principally for Scott Fardy, but at points in this series it didn’t seem to matter who inhabited the 6, 7 or 8 shirts for the Wallabies, they all ignored the referee.

The final straw came when Australia conceded a penalty in front of their posts from Nigel Owens in the last five minutes of the final Test after he had called ‘contest over’. Discipline killed Australia and an inability to listen to the referee was the root cause.

Redemption
Two candidates for this one. Dylan Hartley, who was left out of the England world cup squad for another unnecessary ban for poor discipline, is a contender. Rather than being the liability many feared, he has been one of the most consistent and calm presences in the England side, guiding England to a series clean sweep for the first time in Australia.

But, he’s not my pick for best redemption story. For me the man who needed redemption most was the previous captain, Chris Robshaw. Like all good 6s they are naturally averse to too much attention and in this series he has been allowed to get on with his job.

Consequently, he has flourished as one of the hardest working players on the field – stealing ball, making tackles or organising the defence, it doesn’t matter what was needed, Robshaw has supplied it.

The Get-it-Right-Eventually Award
This is dedicated to the tactical switch that shouldn’t have been needed in the first place. The obvious contender is the George Ford for Luther Burrell substitution in the first Test but to be fair to Eddie Jones, Ford’s form leading into this series was terrible and Burrell looked the right choice at the time, whereas now I can’t see Ford ever losing the shirt again.

However, the actual recipient of this award is Will Skelton. His performance in the third Test was excellent, he pressured, bruised and intimidated the English forwards, exactly the qualities Australia had been lacking in the previous two games. Will Skelton, I salute you.

Discovery of the Series
This award goes to the player who has appeared from nowhere and changed the direction of the series, the bolter if you will.

For some Maro Itoje wins this hands down, he has been niggle-incarnate this series, a superb athlete and natural leader.

However, if you’re a northern hemisphere fan then in recent years you’ve seen Maro win the Anglo-Welsh cup, the u20s World Cup, the league title twice, the Grand Slam and the European cup. He’s also won the European player of the year award and he might be the first player to complete a perfect season (international and domestic): 26 starts, 26 wins.

Therefore, you can’t really call him a bolter. He’s now pretty much established as one of the best players in the world at the moment.

The actual winner of this award is the Australian wing Dane Haylett-Petty. He gained his first cap in the first Test and produced consistently abrasive and dangerous performances in each game.

At 27, 6’2″ and near 100kgs, he is perfectly positioned to be one of the best international wings for the next three years, if he is nurtured effectively.

Captain Fantastic
Stephen Moore or Dylan Hartley? It’s Dylan Hartley, obviously. Next.

Tactical Genius
The rope-a-dope performance of the second Test has to be one of the best performances by an England side ever. To go to Melbourne, throw the ball to Australia and tell them to run at them would have been suicide with any other England team but somehow they won, and won comfortably. This was down to the tactical kicking of George Ford and Owen Farrell. England’s perennial problem has been the number 12 shirt but now that problem seems to have been solved.

Villain
Scrums, no one to blame but the state of the game that allows this to keep happening.

The scrums are an offensive weapon that you score tries from, not a cynical machine you sneak penalties through. Until props and teams change their mind-set then this will continue to be a blight on the game.

I still recommend fining all props for collapsed scrums that have gone nowhere, or stopping the clock until the ball has entered the tunnel – either way, there’s a long way to go before scrums add anything but three points and frustration to the game.

Player for the Future
Players, and professionals, learn the most about themselves when they lose and this has been a testing series for the Australian players.

Many players have managed to hold their heads up and come out of the series in credit – Israel Falou, Will Skelton, Haylett-Petty are just some of the names that come to mind.

Others have sunk under the pressure – Stephen Moore, Scott Sio and Scott Fardy.

One man, who almost drowned at the beginning of the series but has shown remarkable resilience since then, has been Bernard Foley. The man is quality and will probably get a bit of stick for this series loss but he only got better as the series progressed and when he was given the support of Matt Toomua outside, he was suddenly finding those gaps again.

Don’t abandon this man Australia, he has the potential to win you some big games in the future.

Player of the Tournament
Many candidates but one player stands out for me above all others. Anyone who has followed English rugby over the last ten years will have written him off at some point, he was arrogant when he arrived on the scene, he obviously craved attention and he wasn’t bothered how he got it. The 2011 World Cup was a particular low point, with him being blamed for a lot of the off-field problems that plagued England’s campaign.

It was clear he had potential but it was also clear it was going to waste and then in steps Eddie Jones and James Haskell suddenly becomes a game-winning player. His tackling and work rate around the park has changed the course of the first two Tests and he has inspired his fellow players along the way. As someone who wrote him off in the past, I’m now choking on the humble pie he has forcefully shoved down my throat. Fantastic series for the old man of the English pack.

Final reflections on this series…
England are developing; they have a young side who clearly have the potential to keep winning, the only worry is that they may have peaked too soon, a whole three years before the next world cup. If that’s the case, this series will still count as one of England’s greatest achievements so they should be enjoying the moment.

Whatever happens, Eddie Jones has confirmed himself as one of the great coaches in the game, not necessarily because of his direct input but because of the people he has picked to support him.

This applies to his team selections but also the coaching team he has assembled. Paul Gustard, Steve Borthwick, Neil Hatley and, especially, Glen Ella have been fantastic for England.

Australia are a good side who came up against a better one over the course of 240 minutes of rugby. However, there were periods within that time where they looked irresistible, the first 20 minutes of the first Test being the most obvious example.

Despite the nihilism that will now set in among some fans and commentators, Australia still have quality players, they still have a quality coach, they will hopefully have learnt how to treat the referee in future Tests and they can still improve, a lot.

If David Pocock is fit for the Rugby Championship, then Australia can upset the New Zealand juggernaut. But that’s a conversation for another time. For now, they need to have a beer, identify the things that went well and vow to eliminate the silly mistakes such as discipline and forward selections that have hindered them throughout this series.

The great thing about this series is that it’s made international rugby competitive again. There was a suspicion after the world cup that the northern hemisphere teams had fallen too far behind their southern hemisphere counterparts, fortunately this isn’t the case.

Admittedly New Zealand still look the No.1 side in the world and by some distance but a competitive field is what the other nations need in order to compete in the next world cup. And this has been a hugely competitive series that I have enjoyed immensely.

Thanks to both teams for playing the sport I love the way it should be played – with heart, soul and loads of tries!