If this is “Bodyline” rugby, bring it on every week. Various England coaches have spent years seeking to outwit the southern hemisphere’s elite without understanding the answers primarily lie between the ears. Decisiveness, controlled aggression, clarity of execution; it is not a coincidence that it is an Australian head coach showing the Poms the best way to skin a Wallaby.
This was another artfully constructed Eddie Jones ambush, second only to his Japan team’s stunning triumph over South Africa last September. One minute Australia thought they had the visitors cornered at 10-0 down, the next they were staring at a 1-0 series deficit and the loss of their most influential forward, David Pocock, who has a fractured eye socket. When Jones described Michael Cheika afterwards as “the world’s best coach”, he did so from his office on the mezzanine level just above him.
This particular Eddie the Eagle has an unerring tactical eye and a revitalised England are soaring upwards on the wings of his trademark ruthlessness. How many Test coaches would have subbed their most physical centre inside half an hour, moved their fly-half to 12 and sent on a diminutive 10 instead? Even those contemplating a switch would have waited until the privacy of the half-time bunker before wielding the shepherd’s crook.
Not Jones. Part of the reason England look more purposeful than they did at the World Cup is because their players’ minds have been decluttered. This singular focus also extends to selection. No matter Luther Burrell, Owen Farrell and George Ford had all been allocated specific roles; it wasn’t working and Australia were feasting greedily on the visitors’ defensive uncertainty. In Jones’s mind there was no debate to be had. “It’s a very old-fashioned view to say you can’t make substitutions in the first half,” he said after his players had registered England’s highest points tally in any major Test south of the equator. “Why can’t you? Because no one does it? Well, you can and it can be very successful.”
If Burrell is hoping for a consoling arm around the shoulders this week, he may just be disappointed. One of Jones’s specialities is identifying strong-minded – as well as strong – individuals unfazed by the piranha-infested waters in which they operate. “That’s what Test rugby’s about,” shrugged Jones. “You’ve got to be tough. Luther understood that the best thing for the team was for him to come off and George to come on. We talk about a 23-man squad all the time.”
It makes life gloriously simple for his players: perform or risk instant consequences. England were by no means flawless but they adapted quicker than Australia to the referee, Romain Poite, took almost all their chances when they were offered and are growing in confidence by the game. A Six Nations grand slam, five tries at home to Wales, a gutsy away win over the world’s number two side; if Jones keeps this up it will pretty soon be Sir Eddie.
The success of Dylan Hartley as captain has also confounded the doubters, while James Haskell has never performed better for his country. If there remains room for improvement in terms of England’s overall attacking fluency, Ford’s pass for Marland Yarde’s try and his late chip for Jack Nowell to score his side’s clinching 79th-minute try further underlined the lurking potential. This series is far from over but to imagine Australia are the only side with the capacity to improve is nonsense.
While the hosts will fancy striking back strongly with Sekope Kepu and Christian Lealiifano back in their starting XV, the loss of Pocock for the next six weeks is a major setback. Jones’s England, not least Maro Itoje, are causing problems around the breakdown and the low-slung axis of Pocock and Michael Hooper would have been pivotal to Cheika’s strategy this weekend. At least the Wallabies, who scored four tries, still possess the brilliant Israel Folau; if there is one man who will still be worrying Jones and co it is surely the outstanding home full-back.
It would seem, though, that a subtly different era is dawning. As Ireland and Wales also showed over the weekend, last year’s World Cup has concentrated minds in the northern hemisphere. Others argue this year’s expanded Super Rugby format has not done the southern powers any favours. The truth is more prosaic; the global tentacles of no-nonsense antipodean coaching have increasingly levelled the playing field, while the next generation of European forwards are fitter and better prepared for the extra intensity of touring in these parts.
They are also enjoying themselves more; those punters who approached England players for autographs and photos at their Brisbane hotel were unanimously impressed by their politeness and good humour. If the mischievous tweet from England’s backline consultant Glen Ella – ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariots’ – was a touch provocative it further highlighted the cross pollination of ideas that is finally altering perceptions of English rugby. If an English touring squad can outsmart a talented Australia team twice in eight days down under, the old order really will have been turned upside down.
Australia Folau; Haylett-Petty, Kuridrani, Kerevi, Horne (Lealiifano 69); Foley, Phipps (Frisby 78); Sio (Slipper 66), Moore (capt; Polota-Nau 57), Holmes (Kepu 57), Simmons (Horwill 24), Arnold (Mumm 48), Fardy (McMahon 68), Hooper, Pocock (Fardy 70).
Tries Hooper 2, Folau, Kuridrani. Con Foley. Pens Foley 2.
England Brown; Watson (Nowell 70), Joseph, Burrell (Ford 29), Yarde; Farrell, Youngs (Care 70); M Vunipola (Mullan 66), Hartley (capt; Cowan-Dickie 72), Cole (Hill 66), Kruis (Lawes 60), Itoje, Robshaw, Haskell, B Vunipola (Launchbury 72).
Tries Joseph, Yarde, Nowell. Cons Farrell 3. Pens Farrell 6.
Referee R Poite (Fr). Att 48,735.
