One by one the traditional pillars of shared Anglo-Australian culture are slipping away. Dame Edna Everage has long since hung up her frocks and the final episode of Neighbours is due to be aired on 1 August. Almost the last of the old-school entertainers still working the room is Eddie Jones, back on familiar soil and as keen as ever to enjoy his farewell Test series as England’s head coach.
With no July tours scheduled next year before the Rugby World Cup and every chance of one-off, home-and-away Tests in a Nations League format becoming the future norm, the looming three-Test contest may prove to be the last of its type played by any England team in Australia. The constantly rolling narrative and competitive ebb and flow have played such a pivotal role in rugby’s heritage that the alternative had better be good.
All of which is further sharpening the appetite on both sides with the newly minted Ella-Mobbs Cup – formerly the Cook Cup – at stake. Last time England were in Australia, in 2016, their convincing 3-0 victory was among the finer achievements of Jones’s tenure. Having just won a Six Nations grand slam, England were consistently up for the fight in all regards. As he bluntly put it in his autobiography: “I’m an Australian and so I know you’ve got to stand up to the Aussies. You’ve got to bully the bully. That’s the only way you get on top of them.”
It possibly explains why England have won all eight of their Tests against Australia under his stewardship. Outback droughts have to end some time, though, and this time around the Wallabies could be in a better place than the visitors. If the Rugby Football Union felt there was “solid progress” made in this year’s Six Nations, it was not always obvious and the less said about last week’s Barbarians’ tour warm-up the better.
The Wallabies have been quietly regrouping under Dave Rennie with some improvement visible at Super Rugby level. The Japan-based trio of Samu Kerevi, Quade Cooper and Marika Koroibete are available and, in common with the upper house of the Australian parliament, to which the former Wallaby David Pocock has just been elected a senator, there is a mood of cautious optimism.
While England did beat Australia 32-15 in November, the margin was inflated by Jamie Blamire’s late try and a battered Wallaby side were hanging after a long year. A penalty count of 18-9 in England’s favour plus two Australian yellow cards did not help either and Australia were ultimately bogged down in quicksand of their own making.
Much, then, depends on the energy and dynamism England can generate up front when the series commences in Perth next Saturday. Jones frequently makes cricketing reference to the Waca where the opening sessions were all about extreme pace and bounce. On the other side of the Swan River at the city’s modern sporting cathedral, England also need a fast start if the spirit of 2016 is to be revived.
But saying and doing it are two different things. For all the attention set to surround Billy Vunipola’s impending return at No 8, it is England’s mindset that needs tweaking. Having managed three tries in their four Six Nations games against Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France this year they have not been bullying anyone lately, physically or metaphorically.
Everyone knows Jones is trying stuff – and doubtless keeping other stuff back – with a view to next year’s World Cup but that priority appears to be blurring the focus on the here and now. What English rugby could do with, to borrow a more contemporary cricketing analogy, is a go-get-em blast of unaffected Brendon McCullum-style fresh air and less fear of failure. If England lose this forthcoming series so be it. More important is that they give it a real rip.
To make that happen, England’s decision-makers will have to be in sync, with Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell the probable 10-12 combo. The mind spools back to the lovely early try England created against the Wallabies at Twickenham last year. Farrell at first receiver, a pull-back pass to Smith in slightly more space at second five-eighth and a sweet short ball to the storming Freddie Steward who swayed his way to the line. It offered clear hope that Smith and Farrell – not obvious bedfellows – might just be able to unpick a lock together.
Quick ball and breakdown impact will clearly be useful, along with an alert in-form nine. With Ben Youngs staying at home, the scrum-half position is once more fluid and it will be fascinating to see who starts. Danny Care, by virtue of his club relationship with Smith, must stand a decent chance of usurping Harry Randall, who lacked some of his customary zip against the Barbarians.
Jonny May’s positive Covid test has depleted England’s initial stocks of out-and-out gas and it could be that Steward and the promising Tommy Freeman start in the back three as a result. With a big, strong runner like Joe Cokanasiga available there should still be the resources to play an all-court game even without, among others, Kyle Sinckler, Alex Dombrandt, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade.
It will be instructive whoever is involved. As with Ireland in New Zealand and Wales in South Africa, there is no shortage of incentive and, at the very least, England’s young apprentices – Henry Arundell and Will Joseph – will receive a fast-track touring education. If they are unlikely to feature in the Tests at this early stage in their careers there should hopefully be a chance for Tommy Freeman, Jack Willis, Patrick Schickerling and even a no-nonsense centre such as Fraser Dingwall to stake a World Cup squad claim.
If this is to be England’s best-of-three Test series swansong in Australia let us hope it ends with a bang. Back in that 2016 series England lost the try count in two of the three Tests but prevailed because Farrell kicked 23 of his 26 series kicks at goal. Once again you fancy it will be collective cohesion and tackle-area discipline that will decide the series outcome.
A significant few weeks for Jones? If England win 3-0 the greatest showman will have had the last laugh again.
