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Five talking points after England's first Test fumble in Australia
England were toppled 30-28 by Australia in their first Test in Perth, but the scoreline masks a myriad of shortcomings from Eddie Jones’ tourists as they fell to a fourth successive defeat.
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Here, the PA news agency examines five talking points arising from the series opener.
Incoherent England stagger into the second Test
Henry Arundell’s stunning seven-minute cameo that conjured two late tries failed to mask the reality that England were conclusively beaten by 14-man opposition which also lost three players to injury inside the first half hour.
They trailed by the insurmountable deficit of 30-14 until Arundell began to weave his spell on Australia’s defence, placing the spotlight on to Eddie Jones yet again. England’s head coach has asked for patience, most notably over an impotent attack that functions sporadically and is wasteful, but with recent results compounded by the team looking a disjointed mess in the final 20 minutes at Optus Stadium, patience continues to ebb away.
Are Farrell and Smith a natural fit?
It is still early days, but the creative axis formed by Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith is misfiring. The moments of promise evident against the Wallabies in the autumn vanished in Perth where the twin playmakers operated on different wavelengths.
England have moved away from a kick-heavy strategy in favour of building their attack through phases, but it remains to be seen if Farrell and Smith are the right fit to execute the gameplan and Jones may soon be forced to choose one of them at fly-half and discard the other.
Kerevi leaves his mark
As Samu Kerevi’s hard-running performance at Optus Stadium was acknowledged with the man of the match award, it once again highlighted the gaping hole left in England’s midfield by the absence of another wrecking ball of Islander heritage.
Injury after injury has robbed Jones of his most potent strike weapon and the aim of using wing Joe Cokanasiga to make up for the power deficit was limited by the Anglo-Fijian’s inability to impose himself. The failure to produce an effective carrier at 12 beyond Manu Tuilagi is a mystery of the English game. Meanwhile, Kerevi will undoubtedly be a highly influential figure in the series.
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A star is born
It may only have given a heavy defeat an undeserved sheen, but Arundell’s spectacular late intervention was thrilling. Continuing the fireworks he has produced for London Irish and England Under-20s in his debut season, the 19-year-old stepped off the bench to tear apart the Wallabies defence through his pace, power and footwork to cross once himself and contribute to another one. Jones must decide whether to start a player he has compared to Australia great David Campese in the second Test in the knowledge that his skills transfer to the highest level.
The Wallabies’ tails are up
Even if Australia go on to lose the series, they will at least no longer have to field questions on why England have “got the wood on them”, to use a phrase regularly heard Down Under this week. The Wallabies’ eight-Test losing run at the hands of their former head coach is finally over and a rivalry that was in danger losing its competitive edge has exploded back into life. Australia matched resilience with a clinical touch in attack to give the ailing game on these shores a crucial shot in the arm and they stand one win away from a series victory.
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
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