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A loss means more doom and gloom for England - Andy Goode

By Andy Goode
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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Stephen Ferris, have New Zealand rugby lost their aura? | RugbyPass Offload | EP 42

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Stephen Ferris, have New Zealand rugby lost their aura? | RugbyPass Offload | EP 42

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.

Chessum England debut
(Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

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.

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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.

England Danny Care
Danny Care of England passes the ball away during game one of the international test match series between the Australian Wallabies and England at Optus Stadium on July 02, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)

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.

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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.

Eddie Jones
England coach Eddie Jones speaks with Marcus Smith during an England rugby squad training session at the Hale School on June 28, 2022 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Will Russell – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

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.

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Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 10 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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