It wasn’t just certain England players who were filled with fear during Eddie Jones’s time in charge here, it was also a seven-year reign of terror for his compatriots.
Steve Borthwick’s divisive, controversial, uncompromising predecessor as head coach of the national team masterminded a long spell of dominance over Australia, forging a remarkable record which will set a high bar for the home team at Twickenham on Saturday. Amid raging recriminations about the way Jones went about his work, his impact on this particular fixture was staggering.
Eleven times, his England took on the Wallabies and they won 10 of them. First, there was a clean-sweep series Down Under, before home rule was imposed at Twickenham. Four times, these sides met in south west London and there was a striking symmetry about the outcomes; 37-21, 30-6, 37-18 and 32-15.
Australia haven’t won in these parts since a 33-13 demolition of the World Cup hosts in 2015 led to the collapse of Stuart Lancaster’s regime and the arrival of Jones. So, they are back in hostile territory where the current Wallabies squad have experienced nothing but pain and failure.
All of which adds to the mounting pressure and expectation on England. There is no avoiding it. There is no hiding place. It is not just about protecting and extending that proud record against these southern challengers, it is about adding substance to all the claims of progress and halting a troubling sequence of results.
Eddie Jones oversaw 10 wins in 11 matches against Australia during his tenure as head coach
England’s remarkable run against Australia will be put to the test at Twickenham on Saturday
Steve Borthwick’s side must extend that record to halt a troubling sequence of results
Four of England’s past five Tests have ended in single-digit defeat, but this can’t keep being seen as a hard-luck story. They have to break the cycle and put away an inferior side. The Wallabies are hastily rebuilding but they finished bottom of the Rugby Championship with five defeats from six games. They are regarded as being on an upward trajectory, but it is a slow one.
England v Australia is an evocative sporting prospect, but the Ashes this isn’t. It has not been a true, tense, highly-charged rivalry for the best part of a decade. For so long, it has been largely one-way traffic in a fixture which used to sell out as a matter of course, but this time has been slowly creeping towards capacity in the last week or two.
Australia are not the box-office draw they used to be. With a Lions series looming next summer, Joe Schmidt is striving to ignite a revival, but his team lie ninth in the World Rugby rankings, below Italy and four places adrift of their opponents.
But in terms of whetting the public’s appetite, it doesn’t help that England’s brave new era has been all about potential so far, at least since they ambushed Ireland at Twickenham in March. There has been much praise for the tactical revolution during the Six Nations and rightly so, as it has been easy on the eye, but results still matter. This year, they have played nine, won four and lost five. As if Bill Sweeney and his RFU hierarchy weren’t feeling enough heat from the revelations in Danny Care’s book, they will be in a world of pain if England contrive to lose this one, with the imperious Springboks coming to town next week.
Sure, people will back a fun team but, above all, people back winners, so the union will worry about fading interest if their shop-window side keep on faltering.
After all the valuable ‘learning’ of late, now it is high time for delivering. The primary education should be for the Wallabies’ cross-code recruit in midfield, Joseph Sua’ali’i, who is appearing in his first grown-up game of rugby union. Against England. In front of 80,000 people. He certainly has an excuse for needing time to find his feet, but the hosts do not.
Opposite the visitors’ No13 is Ollie Lawrence; a lethal weapon who wasn’t fired at the All Blacks often enough last week. He touched the ball a few times early on, then existed almost exclusively as a defensive force after that. What a waste. If he is not rampaging around as if he’s at The Rec in the free-flowing Bath back line, something has gone wrong with the English gameplan.
Whatever the numbers on their backs, Borthwick’s centres have an ideal balance of guile and power; posing a triple threat —run, pass, kick. So, let’s see it. The debrief from the Autumn Nations Series opener was that England kept attacking New Zealand, but it didn’t amount to much, given that their only try came from the interception break-out brilliantly conjured by Marcus Smith.
England’s loss to New Zealand extended a run of four single digit defeats in their last five Tests
Australia are no longer a box office draw but Joe Schmidt is attempting to start a revival
Ollie Lawrence needs to be more involved than he was against New Zealand last weekend
Most a Twickenham will hope Marcus Smith can play the duration if he is on a roll for England
Most of those at Twickenham will hope the Harlequins fly-half has not had his exuberance knocked by Borthwick’s flawed decision to bring him off with 20 minutes left last week. Those in the stands will hope that if Smith is on a roll again, he can be shifted to full-back if George Ford is deployed from the bench, rather than removed entirely. Operating with two playmakers in tandem — plus Henry Slade — late on would minimise the risk of ‘declaring’ early, as was the case seven days ago.
But, as ever, the creative department won’t function if the supply lines are unreliable, so England need an 80-minute scrum. That requires Ellis Genge to front up to Taniela ‘Tongan Thor’ Tupou again and Will Stuart to build on arguably his best game for his country, before being replaced by Dan Cole. The 37-year-old Tiger will go head-to-head with James Slipper in a clash between two veterans with 256 Test caps between them, which must be a record.
The recall of Luke Cowan-Dickie on the bench should arm England with greater set-piece clout in the latter stages of the game. There will be so much emphasis on the final quarter; the period when English ambitions have unravelled so often this year. All week, players and coaches have spoken about the need to maintain discipline during this key phase. They have talked about it more than enough. It just has to happen now.
Borthwick and England really, really need this. The pressure has risen. The heat is on; the team, the head coach and the union ‘suits’ up in the posh seats who are monitoring him closely, after seemingly failing to monitor Jones.
It’s high time for the national team to find a ruthless streak again; to take control and go straight for the Wallabies’ jugular. They are the better side, so prove it. No more near-miss agonies. Lose this one and 2024 could end up as one of the worst years on record. It shouldn’t come to that. It mustn’t come to that.
