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Eddie Jones was happy to see England adapt after another disrupted week to beat Australia by a 32-15 score to retain the Cook Cup at Twickenham.
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Joe Marler tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday and fellow loosehead prop Ellis Genge joined his team-mate in contracting the virus three days later which forced Bevan Rodd into an unexpected debut despite only joining the squad on Thursday.
There was another forward injury to deal with during the contest with Jamie George forced off but tries by Freddie Steward and Jamie Blamire bookended a hard-fought contest with the Wallabies, who suffered an eighth straight defeat to England.
Jones said: “We have had a fairly disrupted week. We have had two Covid positives and a young prop come in on Thursday, have one training run and get promoted to starting guy.
“We lost Jamie George at half-time, Kyle Sinckler got a bad dead leg early in the first half so we had to battle today. We had to battle hard and I was really pleased with the attitude of the players.
“We predicted it would be more of a free-flowing game like Australia like to play but it turned out to be a penalty-heavy game, a lot of set-piece contests and kicking. I was pleased with the way we adapted our game and fought through it. I was also really pleased with the way our finishers finished the game.”
Blamire was one of the England replacements to make his mark, crossing over for the sixth time for his country and continuing his record of scoring in all four international appearances.
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Debutant Rodd also received praise from Jones for a “remarkable effort” but the majority of eyes ahead of kick-off were on the new 10-12 axis of Marcus Smith and captain Owen Farrell.
The duo combined impressively to send Leicester full-back Steward away after seven minutes and while they kicked a combined points total of 22, Jones knows there is plenty more to come from the pair.
PLAYER RATINGS: A game that never took off but Eddie's England bagged the scrappy win nevertheless.
Here's how we rated the England players. #ENGvAUS #AUTUMNNATIONSSERIES https://t.co/U9IuVwE43J
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2021
He added: “They are a bit like two opening batsmen who haven’t batted together facing the new ball for the first time. Every time they bat together after this, they will be better.
“I thought the first try we scored is probably one of the best tries I’ve seen from an England side; our handling, our running lines, hitting the holes, it was absolutely outstanding and we want to do more of that.
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“We are aggressive about wanting to do more but it’s just not going to happen all the time. I thought that was really promising from those two guys.”
England will need to assess George after his knee injury but captain Farrell, who was also forced off, insisted his withdrawal was only due to a “bang on the ankle” with attention turning to South Africa’s visit to HQ next week. Jones may have Marler available too with his isolation set to end on Thursday.
For Australia, they were left to lick their wounds after a second consecutive Autumn Nations Series loss following their narrow defeat to Scotland earlier in the month.
Eddie Cam, the gift that keeps on giving ? #AutumnNationsSeries #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/GKxq6I6uD6
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 13, 2021
Head coach Dave Rennie admitted: “We just couldn’t get going. We got hammered in the penalty count. I have seen the possession and territory stats are in the sixties (for England).
“We just made too many errors and we gave away dumb penalties. It is frustrating. We showed a lot of character and at half-time it was 16-12 and we had fought hard.
“I felt if we were able to string a few phases together, we could have put them under pressure but we were not accurate enough tonight.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Lets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to comments