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England extend winning run against Australia under Eddie Jones
By PA
England extended their winning run against Australia under Eddie Jones to eight matches but they had to dig deep for a 32-15 victory at Twickenham that was the first real test of the new era promised by their head coach.
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For all their possession and territory, the strong odds-on favourites led only 16-12 at half-time of the Autumn Nations Series clash, with Freddie Steward scoring their only try amid a high-octane start.
At least one more touch down should have been added against resilient opponents who were on the ropes yet who stayed in touch through a steady stream of James O’Connor penalties.
And as the Cook Cup clash staggered into its final quarter after a humdrum spell full of indiscipline, untidy play and fussy refereeing from Jaco Peyper, England’s attacking intent subsided and an arm-wrestle took over.
Five penalties from Owen Farrell and one from Marcus Smith ultimately propelled them to a second win of the autumn, with Jamie Blamire’s stoppage-time try distorting the final scoreline, but Jones has been left with plenty to work on ahead of South Africa’s visit to Twickenham next Saturday.
For the first half at least the experiment of pairing Smith and Farrell together in a creative axis was a success, although for most of the match they interchanged between fly-half and inside centre.
Frequently Farrell would appear at first receiver, creating time and space for Smith to orchestrate play with clever passes and miss moves, and the pair combined beautifully for Steward’s try.
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It was among the best displays seen from England’s captain at inside centre and a return to international form after a period when he has failed to make an impact, although his evening was cut short by injury.
Picking up where they left off last Saturday against Tonga, Jones’ team made an all-action start when Farrell and Smith united to weave Steward into space and the Leicester full-back made easy work of the finish past a diving Kurtley Beale.
Jonny Hill and Kyle Sinckler had taken early bangs but were soldiering on and when the attack was renewed with Sam Underhill carrying hard it looked ominous for Australia.
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Hurtling infield off his wing, Manu Tuilagi made inroads into the heart of the visiting defence to win a penalty that was kicked by Farrell, but he then showed his discomfort in his new position by dropping the restart.
Australia scrambled effectively to keep out a second try when Henry Slade and Jonny May threatened and then Jamie George was sent bursting into space by a cute pass from Courtney Lawes.
George was stopped by a dangerous tackle from wing Tom Wright, who was sent to the sin-bin, and the Saracens hooker was then denied a try when Nic White dislodged the ball from his arms as he was about to touch down.
The second-half started with O’Connor’s fifth penalty and now the home lead read just 16-15, but two big carries from Hill including one where he was held up over the line placed England in control.
Angus Bell was sin-binned for a tip tackle on Lawes, and Alex Dombrandt and Tuilagi interchanged to great effect in the 54th minute, only for the ball to be turned over and Australia to launch a counter-attack.
It was the Wallabies’ most threatening moment of the game but it led to their captain Michael Hooper being replaced.
Farrell kicked a penalty before limping off in obvious pain and then Smith also landed three points to kill off the Australian challenge before Blamire charged over.
Man of the match...Jaco Peyper.....he really wanted to be the main boy today
For Australia it was just one of those days, they don't throw that many bad passes or make poor decisions normally.
England got the win, but this is 2 years out from the World Cup. It's not about grinding out the win, it's about developing a team and style of play that make us the best version of yourselves at the next WC.
With that mindset, England were poor. 60 minutes in, they are still going through 2 phases and box kicking to compete, like that did at the last world cup. Over and over again.
They're playing people like Courtney Lawes. Phenominal player, but he's not young, he'll be 34 at the next world cup and he's prone to an injury. What happens if he's not fit? What do we have to gain from giving him a run out?
Smith doesn't need a controller at 12, he's got Youngs inside him, and Slade and Tuilagi outside him. Farrell is not a great 12, lets give Smith his head and let him learn how to control a game at international level. He's shown he can do it in the PREM, Quins won the title last year, lets give him a real opporuntiy, not restrict him with Farrel next to him.
Eddie, have the balls to call it.
Is Simmonds an international backrow? Do his skills transfer? Just how good can Dombradt be? I think he can be next level, but let him have game time. What is there to learn from Curry at 8? He can do a job, he's a good carrier, great defensively, and he's world class over the ball. But he's fourth best (at best) let him play his best position and we can use him as emergency cover at 8.
So far, we've managed to give some game time to the front row, Freddie Steward is to the manner born, but we had an opportunity to reall blood some exciting players.
Why not play Farrell and Quirke together one game, with Smith and Youngs off the bench, and next game switch, then you're giving young players game time with an experienced head next to them?
Playing a 30 year Tuilagi off the wing makes no sense whatsoever. Maybe against Australia it's a good tactic, but if you're building for the future, why not give Malins or Radwan game time so they have 15-20 caps come the world cup?
Eddie says we're expanding to an more attacking game plan. We've not seen it yet.
Eddie says we're bringing the next generation through.He has somewhat, but there is so much talent that he's bringing into the squad but not giving game time, I've had enough.
I was an Eddie fan. His results speak for himself. But we have a generational group of players, like the French currently have. I don't remember ever being so excited by an England squad. But Eddit won't bring them through.
So I've had enough. I've had enough of Eddie.
Dombradt and Simmonds are the best No 8s in Europe right now. At least on form. Little to no game time. If you're going to play a big 6, what about Ted Hill, or Ludlum? George Martin?
Radwan could be the next Billy Whiz. Robinson was really raw when Woodward picked him, but what he gave far outweighed what he cost us. Eventually Jason Robinson evolved into a complete player. Radwan has such electric pace and footwork, he could be that good.
Owen Farrell was superb at last cycles style of rugby. But if you are going to play an expansive style of rugby, have the guts to go with Smith, and if you want a like-for-like, George Ford is the better comparison. He's tearing up trees at Leicester. Have the guts to say "this is our new identity".
Farrell is the most driven player, if he needs to change his game to offer more, let him go back to Saracens. You have Mako, George and Billy all with the fire in their belly showing they deserve to be in the squad, they are more like the players they were 3-4 years ago. Let Owen go away, work on his game and come back in.
It's tiring. Teams are evolving, England aren't. They have enough power to get wins like today, they don't need to catch fire to win. That's awesome. But when it really matters, they'll come up short because the game and other teams have moved on. They will be found out.
Come on Eddie, grow a pair or step aside.