For a time it seemed that England might have to win not so much the hard way, as in a downright shocking manner. Stoke up a series – and Eddie Jones had deliberately done just that even before he touched down in his homeland and promptly had his bags searched – and you’re creating sparks in a very volatile environment. Defeat to England is a tetchy subject in Australia. When things grew ill-tempered in the 12th minute, memories crept in of the 1975 Battle of Ballymore, a full riot in whose early stages the England prop Mike Burton was sent off.
These being professional times, the pushing and shoving of 2016 were much more restrained than the excesses of 41 years ago, but it did seem that the whole Melbourne stage was set for something hostile. White shirts had already turned red from sponsors’ paint on the field, whose sandy surface was already pockmarked with scrummaging craters. Real blood would flow freely from Rory Arnold’s split forehead and from various sections of Billy Vunipola’s face. It was as menacing as sport can be without spilling into the unacceptable.
As such, it was utterly engrossing: victory on the day and an unassailable lead in the three-Test series – and completely different from the first Test in Brisbane, which began with a carefree brace of tries by the home team and a protracted comeback by the visitors. Here, England opened up a lead with a try on strong legs towards the end of the first quarter, following a drive from a lineout.
This came from a penalty kick to the corner. In the age of Chris Robshaw as captain, kicks to the corner led to very little. They became almost a trademark of his leadership: the gambles that never paid off. Dylan Hartley seems blessed with better fortune – or perhaps the drive of his England is a little more determined. Robshaw, by the way, was magnificent in the ranks, stripped of command, but at the heart of the gritty and determined defence that followed the try – that is, everything England had to do for the next hour.
They needed a little bit of luck. There were warnings issued by the referee, Craig Joubert, about how penalties given away in extremis would lead to yellow cards, but so long were the advantages that an offender – Mike Brown, for example – could fade into history, or slide unseen to full-back, by the time play stopped again.
There was the moment when the assistant referee Nigel Owens called for a review of the moment when Owen Farrell seemed to dip his shoulder into Bernard Foley as they ran towards the landing of a high kick. Far from confirming what the England centre must have committed by reputation, the South African referee penalised Foley for crossing into Farrell’s path.
Just for good measure, the exculpated Farrell politely asked Owens if he was taking the ensuing kick from the correct position and stroked it through the posts. Come to think of it, none of the above has anything to do with luck – but England have created a little bit of good fortune for themselves.
It is the fortune of the deserving, because they play for each other like few teams of the past 13 years, going back – obviously – to the great team of 2003. Is this another World Cup-winning team in the making? There’s a long way to go to Japan in 2019 – so long that peaking too early must be about the only worry they have – but this has been a remarkable transformation and they show no signs of slowing down.
Australia, on the other hand, found luck going the other way. Or they could not take advantage of the strokes that came their way. Vunipola kicked the ball off the pitch in what he safely thought was overtime after 40 minutes. Not so. The hooter had not sounded. Australia for the supplementary three minutes pounded at the line and came away with nothing.
It fell within this hour of monopoly on the ball. Australia had scored a driving try of their own, a tit-for-tat special from a lineout that now contrasted with their lack of attention to detail at close-quarters. Sean McMahon dropped the ball twice in contact; Robshaw – as would the estimable Dan Cole – swooped over tackled opponents to deny them a chance to recycle tidily. The more Bernard Foley and Tevita Kuridrani tried to free their hands to give the killer pass to Israel Folau, the more England packed the space around the ball-carrier. It was an hour of keeping their hands not on the ball, but on the bodies that sought it.
James Haskell, all red of cap and red of paint, was once again the red light that stopped everything. When he was replaced he tried to trot to the sidelines as if to show that he wasn’t tired at all. He could barely put one foot in front of the other. This was a united team effort, but Haskell has been the star individual.
The hour ended with the relief of Melbourne. Scott Fardy, a thorn in England’s lineout, ended up presenting them with a gift, spilling the ball and allowing Courtney Lawes to enjoy a gallop and Jamie George (in contrast to Fardy much earlier in the day) to thread a kick expertly into space. Hookers may not strike for the ball, despite what Eddie Jones expects, but they can still put a boot to it.
Farrell in support completed his 18-point tally with a try, conversion and the late penalty that simply made the point: nothing fancy; there’s a job to do. Australia at their most fluent and, here, at their most menacing have been seen off.
Next is the whitewash … England’s colour beneath the red of this day.
