A loss means more doom and gloom for England - Andy Goode
England’s deciding third Test against Australia certainly won’t define the Eddie Jones era but it feels like a big moment as it sets the mood ahead of a huge season next time around.
Let’s face it, the mood wasn’t great and there wasn’t a lot of optimism ahead of this tour on the back of two consecutive desperately poor Six Nations campaigns. One swallow doesn’t make a summer and England need to back up their Brisbane victory but a series win Down Under will give people reason to believe once more.
This Australia side might not be up there with France or the Springboks but they are improving and to beat them in their own back yard at the end of a long, tiring season when the Wallabies are fresh would represent a significant achievement.
If they do it without Maro Itoje, who injects a lot of energy as well as being a world class second row (even if many don’t like his whooping and hollering), in addition to Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Henry Slade, Anthony Watson, Manu Tuilagi, Alex Dombrandt, Sam Simmonds, Kyle Sinckler and Joe Marler, it’ll show significant squad depth too.
Aside from the couple missed while away with the British & Irish Lions, this is the first Test Itoje has missed since the last World Cup and he’s been at his disruptive best in the first two Tests but I actually think Ollie Chessum outplayed him in the Premiership final.
It’s a huge day for the Leicester man as he makes his first Test start but he’s earned his shot and Lewis Ludlam, the other enforced change, has put in a couple of big shifts off the bench so I don’t think either will let anybody down.
It’s great to see Jack Willis on the bench as well after he was a late withdrawal before the second Test. He’s an unbelievable poacher and will be desperate to go up against Michael Hooper, who has been one the best in the world at the breakdown for years.
The one alteration that wasn’t forced upon Jones is at scrum half and a lot of people are scratching their heads after Jack van Poortvliet went so well last week but Danny Care didn’t have a bad game at all in the first Test and his experience could be key with a number of youngsters around him.
Aside from the personnel, it was much more like the England of old last week with a greater focus on the kicking game and dominance in the collisions. They won the battle up front, owned the gainline and will have to do the same again if they want to take the series.
It’s not a complete coincidence that Australia won the first Test when there was a southern hemisphere referee in charge and England came out on top in the second when a northern hemisphere man was in the middle.
New Zealander Paul Williams has the whistle this week and the breakdown will be a huge battleground again. He’ll be pretty hot on the tackler rolling away and players giving him a clear picture so I’m sure England will have done their homework in that department.
England’s big name players, the likes of Ellis Genge, Courtney Lawes, Billy Vunipola, Owen Farrell and Jack Nowell, really stood up last week and they won’t want to be thinking what might have been while they’re taking their well earned rest in the next few weeks.
They were always going to have to weather a storm after going 19-0 up and they’re unlikely to have things their own way as much this week but they went back to basics, managed the game well and it’s about managing the little momentum shifts in games as well.
Momentum is a huge factor in sport and it might only be one game but, out of these two teams, England have it and I think that gives them the edge in Sydney.
We all want to see Marcus Smith unleashed and England play with more freedom and creativity in attack but the result is all-important now and I expect it to be a case of more of the same in the deciding Test.
People will only remember whether England won or lost this series, not the details. Lose and it’s a long four months until the Autumn Nations Series with doom and gloom the pervading feeling. Win and there will be hope, just a sense that a corner may finally have been turned.
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments