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Watch: England's new 'Jonah Lomu' Joe Cokanasiga brutalises Wallabies in breakout display
England’s new wing Joe Cokanasiga exploded against the Wallabies in an uncontainable display of power running, giving England fans serious excitement and Eddie Jones a serious selection conundrum ahead of the Six Nations.
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After scoring on debut against Japan last week, he clocked up 107 metres on seven carries, beating seven defenders and making three line breaks.
He will give Dane Haylett-Petty nightmares after slipping his tackle and racing away to score with ease.
TRY! England score again with a fantastic finish from @JoeCokanasiga đŞ
Tune in and watch LIVE on @SkySports Main Event or Action, or follow our live blog: https://t.co/19neQOD6WF #ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/nR9NhMUOVD
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 24, 2018
“It was like watching Dane Haylett-Petty run into a brick wall as he tried to stop Joe Cokanasiga,” former England captain Mike Tindall said on BBC Sport.
He wasn’t finished with Haylett-Petty yet, showcasing his physicality with a tearing kick-return through the Wallabies defence.
With the line in sight, Cokanasiga opted to detour so he could run directly at Dane Haylett-Petty, flattening him before being held just short by a desperate tackle from Michael Hooper.
Cokanasiga could've gone for the corner there and scored but instead thought âyou're fucking having it" when he saw DHP. And I love him for that.#ENGvAUS
— Blood & Mud Rugby Podcast (@bloodandmud) November 24, 2018
https://twitter.com/TeacherChemist/status/1066366881081245696
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The 21-year-old has been labeled by some as England’s ‘Jonah Lomu’ after the breakout match, with fans salivating over the prospect. He received his second straight fans’ man-of-the-match award after the performance.
Your @BollingerUK Fans' Man of the Match….
JOE COKANASIGA đš#ENGvAUS pic.twitter.com/2TSpH49A56
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 24, 2018
The addition of Cokanasiga on the end of a backline with Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi gives Jones a possible power back line-up nothing like he has had since taking over in 2016.
The Fijian-born winger, who moved to Bath this year after his club London Irish was relegated, is sure to feature in next year’s Six Nations and could be a bolter for England’s World Cup squad.
Joe Cokanasiga:
Two internationals
Two tries đđA fine start to his international career.#ENGvAUS live đđđ˛ https://t.co/XyXnOb135b#bbcrugby pic.twitter.com/LffwNtvoCm
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) November 24, 2018
In other news:
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Comments on RugbyPass
Donât pay a blind bit of notice to Lukie⌠he likes the sound of his own voice and is always looking for something controversial to say. He has been banging on about Leinster's defensive system all season like he knows something Jacques Nienebar doesnât. Which is the reason why he didnât apply for the job obviously
13 Go to commentsWho got the benefits out of Schmidt, Lowe, Aki, and Gibson Park?
13 Go to commentsWhatâs new its a common occurrence, just the journos out there expecting a negative spin. The outcome will be beneficial to jordie and Leinster. The home grown lads hav got some experience to step up to and be more competitive, that or spend the 6 months keeping the bench warm.
13 Go to commentsIâm all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? Iâm not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasnât engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldnât be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasnât playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. Itâs like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japanâs league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? Weâve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby âfanâ who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because weâve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I donât thinks itâs even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Letâs give it a go. But I think itâs fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
1 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here âŚ. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at itâs very best âŚ. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying âsee you in 5 weeks same placeâ, I definitely wouldnât have thought of it as being in any way âarrogantâ, rather a sort of jolly âif we both continue to play like this, no one could stop usâ - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 âŚ.. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive âŚ..
135 Go to commentsThereâs value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, Iâd think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
13 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete â , you are able to beat â better rugby players â by 74 pointsâŚ. May be England should recruit in athleticsâŚ.
1 Go to commentsPffft. Itâs not a one-way street bud and Irish teams donât seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
13 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesnât show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasnât the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
135 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
135 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, itâs all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. Itâs a miracle thereâs any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
5 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
135 Go to commentsItâs 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. Itâs just looking for negatives where there are none.
13 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesnât make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to comments