Autumn Nations Series 2022: England v Japan

After a week of excuses for their loss to the Pumas, it was back to the pitch for England as they take on Japan. After waiting forever for the Smith/Farrell/Tuilagi midfield that we were promised would make England world-beaters but did very little, the trio were immediately broken up, with Guy Porter getting the start at 13, but it was his opposite number with the first action of note as he charged down Marcus Smith’s kick and looked to break downfield, only for the officials to adjudge his teammate Ryohei Yamanaka was offside, allowing Owen Farrell an easy kick off the tee to open the scoring. England’s pack were gaining early dominance, and when they won a penalty that allowed England to kick into the 22, the ball came out to the backs and Marcus Smith put Freddie Steward over for the opening score the opening try after 12 minutes. It wasn’t long until another England scrum penalty allowed them easy entry into the Japanese 2, but as England tried to play quick attacking rugby for that rare occasion under Eddie Jones, the accuracy was lacking. As the game entered the second quarter, a break by Steward on the kick counter saw Jack van Poortvliet release Joe Cokanasiga, who was stopped just short but managed to offload to Marcus Smith to score in the corner. They found themselves under pressure on the half hour mark though, as a contested lineout was recovered by Japan, which allowed them to open their account for the day with a penalty from fly half Takuya Yamasawa. And they were soon back on the attack, Michael Leith breaking out of his 22 and feeding Dylan Riley; the centre found himself isolated so kicked on and surprisingly beat Jonny May to the ball in the 22, and while the England wing successfully stopped him short of the line, he was then sent to the bin for illegally killing the ball, allowing Yamasawa another easy kick to narrow the gap. However the 15 men conceded just on the stroke of half time. A clever kick to the corner from van Poortvliet was recovered by Japan, and as the ball was played infield to create a better angle for the kicker to clear, the England chase converged to force a turnover, with the ball then being quickly spread to put Porter over, with Owen Farrell adding the extras for a 24-6 lead at the break.

The second half saw Yamasawa replaced by Seung-Sin Lee, whose early penalty attempt from long range was pushed wide as England returned to a full complement. Meanwhile, England chose to put their next penalty into the corner, and after the spread right to left failed to result in a try, the ball started coming back through the forwards and Ellis Genge crashed over for the try. Momentum was with England, and after a great counterruck from Maro Itoje created a turnover, Farrell put boot to ball and Porter won the chase for his second try. As the hour approached and both teams began using their replacements, Japan managed to steal a try as the ball came out unexpected from a ruck deep in English territory, while their next attack of note saw Farrell win the race to Dylan Riley’s grubber. And as England went to the other end of the pitch, a driving maul was brought down illegally for a penalty try, with Siosaia Fifita sent to the bin. And the hosts brought up the half century with 6 minutes remaining after Freddie Steward’s kick bounced kindly for Henry Slade to kick on (while leaving Kotaru Matsushima stranded) for Marcus Smith to cross for his second of the day, while another break from Slade just moments later ended in disappointment as his grubber kick to the corner was just too heavy for Jonny May to catch up with, leaving England 52-13 victors.

Wasted opportunity?

So what did England actually learn from this match? Their defence performed well against a team that likes to spread the ball, managing to keep the key players quiet for most of the match. However their attack was once again limited and unimaginative, with some questionable decisions from Marcus Smith.

Van Poortvliet showed that he should be the starter at 9 going forward, though an opportunity to get Alex Mitchell used to Test rugby was wasted as Ben Youngs was gifted another cap, while Porter’s inclusion also feels somewhat wasted when we know that Jones is focused on Manu Tuilagi joining Smith and Farrell in midfield, especially as Slade’s impressive late cameo on his 50ᵗʰ cap reminded everyone that he is likely the next up at 13 in Tuilagi’s absence.

Meanwhile the pack showed it’s dominance at the set piece, but with Kyle Sinckler and Ellis Genge the clear starters, would this not have been an opportunity to start Joe Heyes and a less experienced loosehead? Similarly with Jamie George and Luke Cowan-Dickie the clear top 2 for England, was this not an opportunity for those lower in the pecking order to push their case for the third hooking spot?

Finally, while it is great to see Owen Farrell kicking 100% off the tee, is a match like this not the chance to give the kicking duties to Marcus Smith to get him used to kicking at Test level in case Farrell were to be unavailable in a key World Cup match?

This may be a solid victory for the hosts, but has it really been used effectively as Eddie Jones builds for the World Cup?

When push comes to shove…

As talented as Japan are, they are not going to compete for any tournaments any time soon, as they are just not competitive enough in the tight 5.

They may be reliable in the loose, but find themselves unable to cope with a decent pack in the scrum or the mauls, going backwards at a rate of knots or going to the floor, either of which results in a penalty for the opposition, gifting them territory and possession while forcing Japan to defend again rather than use their attacking skills.

In attack, they can mitigate this by getting the ball in and out, but the problem is in defence, where they are immediately under pressure, and their opposition know they have the dominance so will happily keep the ball in there and push on until they get the penalty.

But how will they improve at this area? Does keeping all their talent in Japan hinder them, as they don’t end up playing in the Northern Hemisphere leagues where scrummaging has become and art form? Or do they need more matches than just the World Cup, June Tests and Autumn Nations Series to face off against the best teams in the world and make playing against an elite pack the norm?

Can They Bring it Home?

We are just over a week away from the kicking off of the most controversial World Cup. One that proves money is more important than human rights in the eyes of FIFA. One that has caused a drastic shake-up of the football calendar as players are made to face off in dangerous temperatures. And while there will rightly be much talk of matters away from the pitch,there is still a football tournament to watch.

And the build-up to the tournament took it’s next step forward with the naming of Gareth Southgate’s squad. After impressive results in the last 2 tournaments, England have had a year to forget that saw them embarrassed by Hungary on the way to being relegated to Division B in the UEFA Nations League. With a pool containing USA, Iran and Wales, they should be heavy favourites to progress, but how will they do? Can the Three Lions bring it home? Let’s have a look at the squad…

Your #ThreeLions squad for the @FIFAWorldCup! 🦁 https://t.co/z6gVkRTlT3—
(@England) November 10, 2022

Goalkeepers

No real shocks here, as Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope have had solid starts to the season, while Jordan Pickford is the incumbent. Pickford has the international experience and Southgate has frequently shown his loyalty to players, so while I feel that one of the others would be more reliable, expect the Everton keeper to get the gametime and hopefully not cost the team with a calamitous error.

Defenders

England’s fullback stocks took a massive hit as injuries ruled out Reece James and Ben Chilwell, who would likely have both started. Shaw has had an up and down career but has performed well as a wingback in big games for England, while it will be interesting to see if Southgate prefers the reliability of Kieran Trippier to the sublime attacking quality but questionable defending of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Most likely England play at the back with wing-backs, so I would advocate taking the risk. With that formation taken into account, Kyle Walker seems a reliable call to start on the right of the 3 to help cover Alexander-Arnold, but runs the risk of being undercooked as he returns from injury. To the disappointment of most, Southgate’s loyalty will likely see Harry Maguire continue to start, and we must all help that the Maguire who has been an embarrassment of a captain at Manchester United is not the one on the plane. White, Coady, Stones and Dier are all solid picks, but Fikayo Tomori seems very unlucky to miss out on a spot.

Midfielders

So let’s start with the elephant in the room: Kalvin Phillips is not enough of a generational talent to deserve an immediate spot in the squad after being injured all season, but as another old favourite of Southgate’s he gets in on thoroughly underserved bias ahead of players who have been putting in the effort and performances. Let’s just hope that he is left on the bench rather than forming another partnership with Declan Rice or it will be a very boring tournament for England fans. Henderson provides experience and will likely be brought on to help see out games late on or lead a second string team if they get a chance, while Conor Gallagher is rewarded for his form over the past season and a half, and Mason Mount would have been unlucky to miss out despite an iffy start to the season for Chelsea. All that remains then is Jude Bellingham, who is a player whose quality and maturity is well beyond his age—as one of the few world class talents in this squad, he needs to be starting!

Forwards

And so we reach the final third, where the headline is (finally!) the inclusion of James Maddison—that he only has 1 cap to his name is indicative of Southgate’s issues as a manager, having been one of the best attacking players in the league for years. Harry Kane will obviously lead the line as per,while Callum Wilson’s form deserves a call-up. But spare a thought for Ivan Toney, who misses out. Personally I could have understood his inclusion ahead of Marcus Rashford, but understand that Rashford’s pace and ability to cover the wide position gives him an advantage when numbers are limited. It’s no shock to see Sterling in the squad, but with more talented players like Foden, Grealish, Saka and Maddison, his minutes should be limited—so expect Southgate to play him the full 90 in every match.

Gareth Southgate

And finally we reach the gaffer himself, and here lies England’s biggest issue. While Southgate did a fantastic job of bringing pride back to the shirt and the team, his successful tournament runs have been more about the easy routes then England looking great. But what has frequently been the issue is his inability to play an attacking game, frequently leaving his most impressive playmakers on the bench and relying on formations that feature 5 at the back and 2 holding midfielders, while his loyalty to players who have done well for him in the past is destined to come back to hurt him at a big moment soon. To me, this feels like 1 tournament too far, and it is time for England to move on going into 2023.

My starting XI from this squad:

5-2-3 formation

Goalkeeper: Aaron Ramsdale

Centrebacks: Kyle Walker, Ben White, John Stones

Wingbacks: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luke Shaw

Midfielders: Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham

Wings: Bukayo Saka, James Maddison

Striker: Harry Kane

What are your thoughts on the squad? Who would make your XI?

Autumn Nations Series 2022: England v Argentina

After a busy day of matches yesterday, there was just one Autumn Nations Series match on Sunday: England’s campaign opener against Argentina. With “wet” probably not doing the conditions at Twickenham justice, both teams were going to the boot early on, finally resulting in an English penalty on 5 minutes as Santiago Carreras was pinged for obstructing a chaser by changing his line. This allowed England to kick possession into the Pumas 22 for the first time, put it came to nothing as Marcus Smith’s attempted cross-kick to Freddie Steward instead floated into the grateful hands of— Mateo Carreras. And the wing was soon beating England to another kick, this one a long ball into the English 22 following a turnover from Juan Martín González, and when Alex Coles tackled Tomás Lavanini off the ball, Emiliano Boffelli was more than willing to kick the penalty to open the scoring. Owen Farrell soon evened the scores after the Pumas defence were wrongly called offside as Ben Youngs struggles to control the ball out of a ruck. However a dropped restart from Coles and and an English offside off the scrum allowed Boffelli to immediately put the Pumas back ahead. Argentina were causing England issues in the scrum, but Andrew Brace decided otherwise and gave England a penalty, but the Pumas defence dealt well with the resulting 5m lineout driving maul. However England’s next 5m scrum after Santi Carreras was forced to cover a kick into his own in-goal—was much more successful as they sent Joe Cokanasiga on the crash ball for the opening try. Boffelli cut the lead with a penalty just after the half hour mark following a wonderful jackal from Julián Montoya, but a late hit from the Pumas captain just minutes later allowed Farrell to kick a penalty of his own. Another England error from the restart gifted Boffelli another simple 3 points, but there was just time for Farrell to kick another of his own after the ball squirted out awkwardly from a scrum, leaving Gonzalo Bertranou under pressure, and the teams went in at the break with the score 16-12.

After another tight start to the second half, a scrum penalty allowed the Pumas to kick up to the English 22, and while England expected the catch and drive, the ball was spread immediately to the backs, and the looping Santiago Carreras put Boffelli over in the corner for the lead. A timely tackle from Mateo Carreras was all that saved the Pumas just moments later as Cokanasiga broke and fed Marcus Smith, and as England looked to create the next attack, Owen Farrell’s pass went behind Billy Vunipola and Santiago carreras was the first to react, picking it up and just holding off the chase of Freddie Steward as he went over for Argentina’s second try in just a matter of minutes. England introduced Jack van Poortvliet following this, and with almost his first touch of the ball, the replacement halfback sniped through a gap at the side of a ruck to go over for a try. After Brace decided that that a high tackle from Jack Nowell on Santiago Carreras was worthy of an England scrum, a strong drive from the home pack won them a penalty that they kicked into the 22, and when Ivan Nemer stupidly played the 9, Farrell kicked England back into a 2-point lead on the hour. Boffelli and Farrell traded penalties over the next handful of minutes, and another Boffelli penalty took the score to 29-30 with 10 minutes remaining. A break from Alex Coles put England on the front foot, but as the phases went on in the 22, he then undid his good work by getting caught running a blocking line, allowing the Pumas to clear their lines and hold on for a first victory over England since 2009.

Prop stars

England have added an extra dimension to their game, and it’s about damn time! Ellis Genge and Kyle Sinckler have always been great carriers of the ball, but they have been underused as carriers in recent years.

However as of this season, that pair are now playing and training together every week at Bristol, where Pat Lam has utilised not just their carrying, but also their reliable handling skills, having them frequently attack the line together and look to tip the ball on to the other as the defender commits. Now Eddie Jones has also added this to the England playbook.

It’s something so simple, but it makes a great impact, as 2 such big carriers will force so many defenders to commit, and if they breach the defensive line, they have the strength to keep their feet long enough for support to get there, and the handling skills to offload if it is on so that the team can take full advantage of the half-break. And in the close matches, these extra carrying options could prove vital.

Learning and growing

Last time that Argentina played in slippery conditions, they got their tactics wrong, trying to play too much rugby in conditions that didn’t support that style. Today, however, they prioritised the territorial game, relying on the big boots of players like Santiago Carreras to push England deep and then the defence to deal with an England attack that would be blunted by the conditions, allowing them to get after the breakdown and win a number of penalties, which Boffelli—whose reliability with the boot has increased exponentially as he has become the regular kicker—would happily kick all day long. And as the conditions improved slightly, they knew when to take the risks, with a lovely move off a lineout to set up Boffelli the highlight of the game, while Carreras’ handling skills to pick up a greasy ball on the run for his try were incredible.

Are they the finished article? Not yet, as they still give away some stupid penalties, while I still feel that Carreras is held back at fly half and benefits from being able to attack the space from 15, while their scrum needs to become more reliable. But they now have wins over Australia, New Zealand and now England in 2022, and that kind of belief for a team that was until recently in an absolute shambles is a great achievement and will encourage them to just continue growing over the next year with a view to repeating this result in the pool stages of the World Cup.

They brought it home

I’ll keep this one brief, because first of all, I wouldn’t consider myself even close to an expert on the subject, and second, because even 24 hours on, I’m still struggling to find the right words.

In 1996, 30 years on from England’s World Cup triumph and with the European Championships coming up in England, David Baddiel, Frank Skinner, and The Lightning Seeds released the song “Three Lions” with the hope that 30 years of hurt would end with Terry Venables’ England would go the distance and in their first major trophy since 1966. England eventually fell to Germany in the semifinals on penalties.

But last night, Sunday 31ˢᵗ August 2022, I watched on with barely-controlled emotion as, after 56 years of hurt, England won a major tournament. But it wasn’t Harry Kane and his gang of millionaires. Instead it was Leah Williamson’s Lionesses as Chloe Kelly’s 110ᵗʰ minute goal secured a 2-1 victory over Germany (of all teams!) after extra time in the final of the UEFA Women’s Championship!

The Lionesses have made the country proud. But much more than that, they have helped take women’s football to a new level, with packed stadiums throughout the competition ending with a crowd of 87,192 fans watching at Wembley (a European Championships record, regardless of gender) and a a peak BBC One television audience of 17.4 million making it the most-watched women’s football game on UK television.

At a time like this, you must spare a moment for those who came before. The Steph Houghtons, the Alex Scotts, the Kelly Smiths… those who played and represented their country at a time when there was less support and visibility. They set women’s football on the path and were the heroes the current generation needed to encourage them to take up the sport and then make a career out of it. Now the vital thing is that this is seen not as the destination, but simply the next step on the road to making women’s football equal to the men’s game.

We are clearly making strides. Women’s football is getting more coverage and it sounds as if FIFA 23 will even be giving the women’s game a lot more focus that previous iterations, which only recently began to feature a handful of national teams. But the key is to keep the momentum, with fans now going to WSL games—let’s be honest, they’re bound to be much less expensive than Premier League games—while it is also important that sponsors and broadcasters continue to give more and more focus to the game. One shot fired at the England squad was how white it has become, as the increasing professionalism has seen the clubs move their training bases to more affluent areas, which leaves girls from poorer areas unable to afford travel to training, and so it is vital that money continues to come into the game so that solutions can be found to stop this being an issue.

20 years from now when I’m an old man and talk about this Championship, of how Beth Mead came back from Olympics snub to become Player of the Tournament and win the Golden Boot, I hope that I will not be looking at one shining moment in English football, but instead remembering how this was just the next step in the growth of women’s football. After all, it’s Her Game Too.

Australia v England: Team of the Series

We are one week on from the end of England’s summer tour to Australia. 2 enemies facing each other down under in a 3-Test series that saw old favourites return, new stars make their debuts and a shed-load of Wallaby injuries on the way to a 2-1 series victory for England.

And so, as we spend this period after the Summer Tours patiently waiting for the beginning of the Rugby Championship,it’s time to look back over the tour to create my combined XV.

Who do you think should have made the XV? Let me know in the comments below.

My combined XV from England’s 3-Test series in Australia is:

1) Ellis Genge: The Baby Rhino has developed into a great Test player. He’s solid in the scrum and improving year on year, and has mellowed to a degree that you no longer worry about him being wound up by the opposition. But more than anything, he reminded us just how dangerous he is with ball in hand with some bulldozing carries, making some of the best players on the pitch get sent flying backwards.

2) Jamie George: David Porecki did a solid job at hooker for the Wallabies on his first caps, which by Aussie hooker standards is good at this point. However the space goes to Jamie George, who had another solid series inthe #2 jersey, keeping the set piece solid.

3) Will Stuart: Shout out to James Slipper for covering the other side of the scrum for the first 2 weeks, while both Allan Ala’alatoa and Taniela Tupou were impacted by injury. Will Stuart may not have done anything to stand out, but did a solid job in the #3 jersey with Kyle Sinckler unavailable.

4 & 5) Maro Itoje & Ollie Chessum: Injuries and suspensions led to very little consistency in the Wallabies’ second row, while Jonny Hill’s tour should have been over 15 minutes into the first Test. Maro Itoje had his “Saracens Maro” moments of going above and beyond in his antics with his yelling at the lineout, but put in 3 solid performances around the park, while Chessum looked comfortable at Test level and deserves to get more minutes in the Autumn.

6) Courtney Lawes: I will continue to argue that he should be in the second row rather than at flanker, but Lawes continues to put in super-reliable performances week in, week out. Add to that the extra responsibility of the captaincy and this was another solid tour for the Northampton star.

7) Michael Hooper: Just like Lawes, you can always rely on the Aussie skipper to give at least an 8/10 performance every week. Continued to show that he is one of the best 7s in the world with incredible turnovers at crucial times, despite England focusing on him at the breakdown.

8) Billy Vunipola: Rob Valentini continues to grow as a Test-level number 8, but he was overshadowed here by Vunipola. Whether you feel that he should be there or not, he did a great job of carrying hard to help put England on the front foot.

9) Jack van Poortvliet: The Leicester halfback made his Test debut on this tour and should have already secured his spot in the 23, if not the starting XV. Took to Test rugby like a duck to water, controlling the game with variety and getting his box kicks right on the money.

10) Noah Lolesio: Marcus Smith had some fantastic moments and Lolesio had some struggles, but I feel that the Wallabies 10 was the more consistent over the 3 Tests, while his reliability off the tee was a axtra mark in is favour as Smith left the goal kicking to Owen Farrell.

11) Marika Koroibete: Tommy Freeman sparked plenty of excitement in the final Test, but I have gone for the more consistent Koroibete. Though I’m not sure he was the Player of the Series, his strong carrying and willingness to come in off his wing helped set up a platform for the Australian attack.

12) Samu Kerevi: Kerevi makes this team so much better just by his inclusion. Has followed the Ma’a Nonu progression route of going from a crash ball 12 to developing his passing and kicking game to become an all-round playmaker. Used all facets of the game to great effect through the series.

13) Hunter Paisami: Guy Porter certainly didn’t look out of his depth but was sometimes lacking in defence. Paisami is a great look at his potential career trajectory, as the young Queensland Red has become a solid, reliable defender and built on that as he has gained experience at Test level.

14) Tom Wright: Jack Nowell is unlucky to miss out after a solid series, but Wright gets the nod here for how well he adapted to repeated injury-enforced change-ups to the back line, which saw him also spend time at fullback. Found some issues dealing with Tommy Freeman in the decider, but caused issues of his own for the English when he attacked.

15) Freddie Steward: Wins this spot by default as almost everyone who took up the position for Australia soon found themselves injured, but Steward also wins this spot on merit. Dominated the air in a way that very few manage to do and looks much more experienced than his handful of caps would suggest.

Australia v England: The 2022 Decider

With a win apiece over the last 2 weeks, Sydney was the venue for the deciding third Test between England and Australia. With all of the Home Nations losing their series opener but winning in week 2, Ireland’s win over New Zealand just an hour earlier will have left the Wallabies hoping that the pattern was not going o continue for a third week, and they had the first chance as the ball came right off a scrum on the England 22, only for Reece Hodge’s pass to go behind Tom Wright with just Freddie Steward trying to get across and cover. Instead it was Owen Farrell who opened the scoring with a penalty after 17 minutes as both teams fought for dominance. A period of England pressure saw Nic White and Michael Hooper force Jack Nowell to enter the breakdown from the side for a Wallabies penalty, and after clearing their lines to touch, the Wallabies worked a clever overlap on first phase to release Tom Wright on the wing, who then fed Nic White inside and remained up with play to take the return ball and go over in the corner for the opening try, Lolesio adding the extras from the touchline. Lolesio added a penalty, with Farrell kicking one of his own before hitting the post with another, but England had one more chance at the end of the half as they kicked a penalty to the corner, and after Tommy Freeman was stopped on the line by Wright, Jack van Poortvliet put his Tigers teammate Steward over in the corner for a 10-11 lead at the break.

It was England with the momentum after the restart, and with Ellis Genge carrying as if his life depended on it, Farrell was soon able to stretch the lead with another penalty, and when Noah Lolesio fumbled an overthrown lineout, Marcus Smith beat Samu Kerevi to the loose ball and accelerated through the gap to score under the posts. The Wallabies fought back though and started to gain some dominance as the replacements began to enter the fray, and after Pete Samu was denied in the corner by a last ditch tackle from Steward, Folau Fainga’a forced his way over from close range following a lineout in the corner, Lolesio’s conversion making it a 4-point game with 14 minutes left. Australia had the momentum, but the English defence held firm and the visitors ran out 17-21 victors to earn a 2-1 series victory.

Building to success

While australia will be disappointed to have lost the series, there are plenty of positives to take as they look ahead to next year’s World Cup.

The loss of Quade Cooper brought Lolesio back to the fore and he put in good displays to show that he has grown and fought back from being devastated at the hands of the All Blacks. Valentini has continued to grow as an 8 at Test level, Hunter Paisami continues to develop alongside Samu Kerevi, Angus Bell got plenty of minutes under his belt, while injuries and suspensions saw Nick Frost look impressive in his first Tests.

And it’s not just the youngsters, as David Porecki looked to bring some reliability to the set piece, which has been an area where the Wallabies have struggled, while James Slipper reminded us all of his versatility by returning to his preferred loosehead position this week after covering the tighthead side for 2 weeks, and Pete Samu looked super dangerous off the bench.

With players like Neville, Swain, Cooper, Perese and Petaia all to come back from injury and suspension—not to mention Tupou, who will only get better over the coming weeks as he returns to full fitness—the Wallabies are developing a strength in depth and are growing. If they continue to grow, they will be putting themselves in a great spot going into World Cup.

The end?

I hate to say it, but we may have just seen the end of Danny Care’s England career. The Quins scrum half has been in fantastic for with his club for the last couple of years and finally made his return to the national team after years out in the wilderness.

After last week’s wonderful performance from Jack van Poortvliet, many would have expected the Leicester 9 get another start, but Care was given the 9 shirt for the game… and honestly struggled. His first box kick was charged down, he got his arm scragged at a ruck by Michael Hooper as he tried to play the ball away, and there were other moments where he looked to be struggling. But to be pulled off before halftime was one of those brutal moves that we have seen a few times from Eddie Jones, an it has usually heralded the end of the player’s Test career, with Luther Burrell and Teimana Harrison disappearing and Nick Isiekwe having to fight hard for years to get back to the fringes of the squad.

Is Test rugby beyond Care? I don’t think so. I think that, much like Marcus Smith, he is struggling at properly adapt to this attacking gameplan, as the team doesn’t look to build on their breaks and instead appears to reset at every breakdown, which leads to the ball being kicked away after a couple of phases. That’s not the way the Quins boys play and it’s not the way that England should be either, while Care would have probably also benefited more from coming on later in the game to take advantage of the gaps as the Wallabies tire.

With van Poortvliet surely in line to be an ever-present in the 23 and young 9s like Alex Mitchell having impressed for Saints and Harry Randall for Bristol and England, it feels like this early replacement may have ended Care’s return to the Test scene before he got a chance to truly prove himself.

Australia v England

After their first win over England since RWC2015, Australia were looking to make it 2 from 2 so far this summer as they faced England in Brisbane. The Wallabies were disrupted last week by injuries just before and during the first half, and this match started in similar fashion with Jordan Petaia—on his first Test start at 15—got his head on the wrong side of a tackle and was replaced by Izaia Perese, and the Wallabies barely had time to reorganise before England were ahead, with Billy Vunipola being driven over from a 5m lineout. Farrell kicked the conversion and 2 penalties, and when Marcus Smith threw a wide pass towards Tommy Freeman in the Australian 22, Izaia Perese just failed to catch it one-handed and was duly sent to the bin for what was considered a deliberate knock-on, with referee Andrew Brace and TMO Joy Neville apparently seeing the same phantom covering defender that popped up in Dunedin just hours earlier and adjudging just a penalty (which Farrell kicked) rather than a penalty try. Farrell added another penalty as Perese’s card was coming to an end, but then the Wallabies celebrated a return to 15 men with their first foray into the English 22, and Taniela Tupou topped it off by crashing over for the try, Noah Lolesio adding the extras for a 7-19 scoreline. England were dealt a further blow just before the break as Maro Itoje failed to get low enough when trying to tackle Hunter Paisami and instead found his head making heavy contact with the centre’s shoulder to bring his tour to an early end.

The second half started much like the first for Australia: with an injury. Samu Kerevi ried a soft chip out to the wing for Perese, but as the young Waratahs back came back to ground he appeared to injure his knee, requiring him to leave the pitch on a stretcher. Farrell opened the scoring in the half with another penalty, but Australia were soon on the attack and after Taniela Tupou was stopped just short of the line, Samu Kerevi was sent over out wide, Lolesio adding the extras to narrow the deficit to 8. Australia continued to be beset by injuries as Scott Sio’s game came to an end just seconds after coming on, but they were fighting on and soo found themselves with the numerical advantage as Marcus Smith was pinged for a deliberate knock-on, Lolesio kicking the resulting penalty. Cadeyrn Neville was the next Wallabies player to leave the pitch injured to hand Nick Frost his Test debut. As the game entered the final hour, Farrell found Jack Nowell in space with a kick-pass to bring England into the 22, and though they were eventually held up over the line, they had won another penalty which the Saracens fly half duly kicked for 3 more points. As the final substitutions were made while the clock ticked down, the game fell into a degree of disarray, and while Farrell lost his perfect kicking percentage with a late attempt, Australia could not create any final chances and fell to a 17-25 defeat.

The best laid plans…

Are Australia going to have anyone left for the 3rd Test? Their players have been dropping like flies in these matches #AUSvENG
—
Tim Etheridge (@PStetheridge) July 09, 2022

You can’t help but feel for Australia in this series. Test rugby at the top level is hard enough at the best of times, but it becomes so much harder when players are going down injured left, right and centre.

Last week, Taniela Tupou was unavailable ahead of selection, and was joined by intended starting fly half Quade Cooper in the pre-match warm-up, while Tom Banks and Allan Ala’alatoa were also lost to injury in that match. This week, Tupou was back to take Ala’alatoa’s place, but the game saw Petaia, Sio, Neville and Perese all lost to injury.

As Robert Burns said in his poem To a Mouse: “The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, / Gang aft agley,” To suffer so many injuries in a match is always going to make it hard to get momentum and consistency, especially when you are forced into reshuffles as Australia were by the loss of Jordan Petaia with no recognised fullback on the bench, while Angus Bell clearly struggled as the game wound down due to playing 89 minutes with just a 1-minute break for the moment Sio was on the pitch.

I hate to see injuries play such a key part in a match, so I will continue to argue that though teams should still have a limited number of substitutions per match, they should be able to have the rest of the 30-man squad available on the bench rather than just 8 replacements, as this will reduce the disruption to teams from circumstances outside of their control, while also reducing the chances of running out of trained front rowers like we saw when Hame Faiva was red carded against Ireland.

New kid on the block

I’ve been arguing for some time now that Ben Youngs is no longer playing at the level required to be in the England Test team. Well he may be watching his spot in the Test squad disappear right now courtesy of his Leicester teammate Jack van Poortvliet.

The 21-year-old Tiger, played an absolute blinder on his first Test start. He provided quick ball for the backs, marshalled his pack to take advantage of their dominance and kept the Australian defence on their toes when he looked to take the ball on himself.

But what really stood out was his box kicking. This is often why Youngs is talked about as still being in the team, but van Poortvliet just did the job miles better, with every kick either able to be contested in the air or setting up the chaser to make the hit as soon as the Australian player landed.

It’s clear that van Poortvliet has paid attention learning alongside Youngs and Richard Wigglesworth. And much like his fellow Tiger Freddie Steward, he ha come into Test rugby and immediately looked like a veteran—and a damn good quality one at that! If he can continue to put in performances like this, it will be impossible to drop him.

Australia v England

With their embarrassment at the hands of the Barbarians a couple of weeks behind them, England looked to kick off their Summer Test series against Australia with a win in Perth. The Wallabies suffered a late injury to starting fly half Quade Cooper, which saw Noah Lolesio elevated to the starting team during the warm-up, and it was the young fly half whose holding on penalty allowed Owen Farrell to kick England into a 0-3 lead after 6 minutes. As the half went on, both teams failed to really get any rhythm through a number of handling errors and penalties—bar one chance for England that was stopped by a wonderful cover tackle on Joe Marchant—but Farrell doubled England’s lead after 20 minutes with another penalty when David Porecki failed to support his own weight a the ruck. There was soon even more disruption for the Wallabies as Tom Banks suffered a serious injury to his arm following an awkward landing when competing for a high ball, which led to Jordan Petaia coming on at wing and Andrew Kellaway moving to 15, however the pack took it on themselves and won a penalty from the scrum restart, which Lolesio kicked over. Farrell just failed to restore the 6-point lead after the injured Allan Ala’alatoa failed to roll away at the breakdown, with James Slipper coming on to replace the Brumbies tighthead. Things soon got even worse for the Wallabies as they finally got some possession in the English 22; Jonny Hill was sent to the bin for deliberately pulling on Darcy Swain’s hair—not the first time he had gone too far in his battle with Swain during the match, but the first time he was penalised—but replays showed that Swain then reacted and attempted a headbutt, which resulted in him receiving a red card. Despite everything though, the Wallabies ended the half positively and Noah Lolesio managed to level the scores at 6-6 with the final kick of the half after a strong carry from Rob Leota.

As Hill’s sin bin period came to an end in the opening moments of the second half, Lolesio put the Wallabies ahead with a third penalty. Looking to utilise their man advantage, England put their next penalty to the corner and mauled Ellis Genge over for the opening try of the game, though Farrell’s kick from the right-hand 5m channel just pulled across the face of the goal. England found themselves with another chance in the same corner with the hour approaching, but the Australian maul defence—bolstered by the arrival of Matt Philip for Rob Leota—held firm and after a couple of phases, Matthew Hooper timed his arrival at the breakdown to win a huge penalty that allowed the Wallabies to clear their lines. Farrell kicked a penalty on the hour to extend the lead to 5, but Jack Nowell’s failure to claim the restart put them under immediate pressure, which resulted in Petaia crashing over on the wing to level the scores and Lolesio kicking the conversion to put the home team ahead, while things got even worse for England just minutes later as Billy Vunipola was binned for a high tackle on Michael Hooper, with the Wallabies taking advantage of the parity in numbers as Folau Fainga’a peeled off the back of a 5m maul to get over the line, Lolesio adding the extras. As the clock ticked into the final five minutes, an unlikely Wallabies win was looking more certain, and when Pete Samu stepped around Lewis Ludlam and carried through the tackle of Will Stuart, he managed to reach the line and secure the victory, and though Henry Arundell scored with his first touch of the ball and Jack van Poortvliet scored at the death with Lolesio in the bin, it just put an undeserved gloss on the match for them as they lost 30-28.

Simple but effective

Rugby is a simple game: you pass backwards, run forwards and try to outscore your opponents. Australia must have felt the gods were against them with Quade Cooper’s injury in warm-up being exacerbated by injuries to Banks and Ala’alatoa (made worse by Taniela Tupou already being out injured) and Swain’s red card.

And yet they often looked the more dangerous team, despite Lolesio often looking out of his depth for much of the match. And this was because they kept things simple.

In players like Leota, Bell, Samu and Valentini they had willing carriers in the forwards, who would work alongside inside centre Samu Kerevi and wing Marika Koroibete—who is frequently used coming in off his wing—to get the Wallabies on the front foot with repeated carries over the gain line. With consistent quick ball that is breaching the gain line, the game becomes easy for an attacking team, as the defense is constantly in retreat and has no chance to get settled and organised, so it is then just a matter of being patient and exploiting the mismatch (the classic prop stuck in the centre channel) or the overlap, which Australia’s backs have the quality to finish.

Time for change

I’ve given England a bit of slack with their failed attempts to play “formationless” attacking rugby as they have been playing with just 1 playmaker in their back line. However, today they played both Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell and still struggled to make any impact on the game, despite playing against 14 men for over half the game, which would have automatically created more space for them to exploit.

Something is drastically wrong with this England attack, and it needs changing immediately. Lawes cannot be taking up the space of a potential ball carrier at 6 and should be moved back into the second row, and England need to start looking at players and a shape that will allow them to get 3 to 4 consecutive phases of quick ball over the gain line in midfield, as this will then create the space for the wings to exploit. Just look at Australia’s success today!

In Smith and Farrell, England have 2 world class talents, but they look overwhelmed trying to run this attack and need something more conventional to get this back line going. Yes it may be missing Manu Tuilagi, but that is the case more often than not with England in this cycle, so it can no longer be used as an excuse. And if the head coach can’t—or won’t—fix this, then it’s time to move on.

2022 Summer Tests: Players To Watch

As both Super Rugby Pacific and the Northern Hemisphere club rugby season come to an end, it’s time to switch our attention from club rugby to the international game as a number of the Northern Hemisphere nations go on tour:

England to Australia
Ireland to New Zealand (facing both the All Blacks and Maori All Blacks)
France to Japan
Wales to South Africa
Scotland to Argentina (while a Scotland “A” side will also face Chile in an uncapped match)
Italy to Portugal, Romania and Georgia

Now regular readers will have guessed what’s coming here, as I look at the majority of the teams above (in this case all the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams) and pick a player from each team to watch out for during this tour. Often they will be someone relatively new to Test rugby, sometimes someone with a point to prove as they face the pressure of depth at their position, and sometimes a player who may have already made a name for themselves, but finds themselves now switching to a different position.

Of course these are just my picks, and there were certainly some other options that I could have gone with, so feel free to chuck who you would have selected in the comments!

Argentina

Starting off this list with someone who firmly falls into the third category I mentioned with Santiago Carreras. You may have noticed that I have began a series of my picks for the top 5 players in the world at each position and (SPOILERS) the Gloucester back will be appearing in one of those articles down the line. But it will not be the one about fly half, and that is where he has found himself playing in recent Tests. He certainly has the skillset to excel there, but he lacks the experience, having never started a professional club match at the position and not likely to anytime soon at Gloucester. With Michael Cheika having taken over leadership of the Pumas, will he stick with the Carreras experiment to take advantage of the depth Argentina have in the back 3, or will he look to play his best players in their best positions?

Australia

With 16 caps to his name already at the age of just 22, Angus Bell looks to be around for the long haul. A dynamic loosehead, he is becoming a much more solid scrummager and will be licking his lips at the thought of taking on the English tighthead crop with Kyle Sinckler missing. If he can cause some damage at the set piece, England could be in trouble.

England

There were so many ways to go with this pick and I was very tempted by returning players like Danny Care and Joe Cokanasiga or the inexperienced Joe Heyes, but instead I have gone for Care’s Harlequins teammate Joe Marchant. The centre has always had great attacking quality but had added a super reliable defence to his game, while he also has the ability to move out to the wing. He may have a fight to make the starting XV when everyone is available, but with both Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade missing this tour, Marchant has a chance to push for that starting spot. His familiarity with Marcus Smith will certainly help things in attack, while he will play a big role in helping shut down an exciting Australian back line.

France

As if France weren’t dangerous enough, they may have found another future star just in time for the World Cup in the form of Yoan Tanga. The 25-year-old Racing 92 back row really stood out to me with his consistent carrying in the tight for the Barbarians in their humiliation of England last weekend, which repeatedly drew in multiple tacklers to finally get him down. The French backline is dangerous when given space, and Tanga’s carrying will just give them even more to work with.

Ireland

Sticking with the pack here, I’m going for Leinster hooker Dan Sheehan. It feels like in an ideal world with everyone available, the Irish hookers in the matchday 23 will be Sheehan and Leinster teammate Rónan Kelleher, with the big question just being who starts. However with Kelleher out injured, Sheehan will surely be the clear first choice ahead of Rob Herring and Dave Heffernan and with the World Cup just a year away, he has a legitimate chance to secure the number 2 shirt.

Italy

I was initially going with Six Nations hero Ange Capuozzo here but a second glance at the scrum half position made me change my mind. With Stephen Varney left out after a poor Six Nations that ended with injury and limited minutes for Gloucester, Callum Braley’s retirement from international rugby leaves the Azzurri short of experience at scrum half this summer. Step forward Alessandro Garbisi! Paolo’s younger brother has shone with the U20s and has been racking up the minutes for Benetton in the URC. He may not be the finished product yet, but a summer facing 3 of the top 4 teams from the 2022 Rugby Europe Championship will be a great way for him to gain experience in the senior team.

New Zealand

What a difference a season makes. Last year, the All Blacks were seriously lacking centres, whereas now they seem almost spoiled for choice. And while part of this is down to the return of Josh Goodhue from injury and another year of experience for last year’s crop, they are also helped by the arrival of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck from rugby league. The centre played 20 times for New Zealand in the 13-man code alongside almost 200 appearances in the NRL, and has grown into the 12 position in his first season with the Blues. With a great range of skills, clever footwork and good strength, Tuivasa-Sheck has the chance to be the new Sonny Bill Williams.

South Africa

Evan Roos was going to get my pick here until I realised that André Esterhuizen only had 8 caps! The Quins centre is arguably one of the best inside centres in the world, but has the challenge of being in the sae national team squad as Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am, while South Africa’s recent favouring of a 6-2 split on the bench has led to them usually going for a more versatile player on the bench rather than a specialist centre. However his form has been incredible over recent seasons and he is fully deserving of a return to the national team and will be looking to put in some big performances against Wales to solidify his spot in the squad ahead of the World Cup.

Scotland

Another in a similar spot to Santi Carreras, Blair Kinghorn may not be as entrenched in the Scottish XI, but he was clearly in the reckoning for a spot in the back 3. However his skillset has recently been used more at fly half, and with Finn Russell given a summer off and Adam Hastings forced to pull out of the touring squad through injury, Kinghorn looks likely to wear the 10 shirt against the Pumas. With Scotland underperforming of late and resting some key players this summer, and facing an Argentina team looking to climb back up the rankings under a new head coach, the pressure will be on Kinghorn.

Wales

Finishing off this list with a potential debutant in Tommy Reffell. Many would argue that the Leicester flanker should have been capped well before this, but he now goes into the South Africa tour off the back of a strong performance in the Premiership final. Back row is an area where Wales have plenty of quality but don’t seem to give anyone a long enough chance to secure a spot. But with Reffell’s all-round ability in the loose and real danger at the breakdown, can he prove himself worthy of an extended run in Wayne Pivac’s 23?

England v Barbarians

With Freddie Burns kicking Leicester to a late victory over Saracens, the Premiership Rugby season came to an end and the eyes of English fans turned to the Summer Tests as England kicked off the action at Twickenham with a match against the Barbarians, which saw the invitational team win 52-21 despite playing the entire second half a man down following a red card to WIll Skelton.

Of course the Baabaas are always going to be tough to judge as the are full of quality individuals but have little time together as a team, and similarly this was an England team missing its Leicester and Saracens players, so we can expect a very different team when England kick off their tour, but what can England learn from this match?

England: 21

Tries: Joe Cokanasiga (36′), Jonny May (51′), Marcus Smith (60′)

Penalties: Marcus Smith (16′, 35′)

Barbarians: 52

Tries: Penalty (18′), Charles Ollivon (24′), Damian Penaud (38′,55′) Baptiste Couilloud (46′), Louis Carbonel (67′), Max Spring (74′), Antoine Hastoy (79′)

Conversions: Antoine Hastoy (25′, 68′), George Kruis (47′, 75′, 80′)

Toothless

It’s not easy being an England fan these days.

There are some bad teams in rugby, but very few look as toothless or lost in attack as England. Eddie Jones has made a big thing of this “formationless rugby” that he wants to play, but too often when they have played this year, they have just looked lost.

Today was another such occasion. England made a couple of midfield breaks through the forwards in the early minutes, but there was no cohesion in the play, and it’s notable that their sole try in the first half came from countering a kick rather than going through the phases. It wasn’t really until the introduction of Danny Care early in the second half (by which point Will Skelton’s red card had left England with a 1-man advantage) that England started to find some shape and cohesion, scoring a couple of tries. But even then, many attacks came to dull endings or saw England letting men get isolated and turned over.

Granted it is probably an attacking style that benefits from a group of players who are used to playing together (which would of course hamper this cobbled together team) but with the World Cup just over a year away and a lot of questions still regarding the England line-up, are they running out of time. Can Owen Farrell’s experience get this attack working, either alongside Marcus Smith or in pace of him? Or is it time for Eddie Jones to consider this another failed experiment and go back to a more conventional attack.

Awful day for Atkinson

With Manu Tuilagi’s inability to stay match fit, something that England have continually lacked under Eddie Jones has been an answer for when he is not available. While Eddie Jones has usually chosen to go for a more lightweight and playmaking midfield in his star’s absence, one player whose club performances over he same timeframe should have earned him more chances was Mark Atkinson.

Well the Gloucester centre got his chance today, but it couldn’t have really gone much worse for him. England’s complete lack of structure and fluidity limited his effectiveness, which was then made even worse playing against a centre pairing of heavyweights Levani Botia and Virimi Vakatawa and a defence coached by Shaun Edwards. Meanwhile in defence, the normally solid defender fund himself falling off a few tackles and being outpaced to the outside by Damian Penaud for a break midway through the first half. Watching him today, it was sadly obvious that he hadn’t played any competitive rugby for a couple of months. And then to make it even worse, a 50/50 pass in his 22 failed to loft over Penaud and allowed the French wing to go over for a try right a England started to get back in the match.

He certainly started showing his quality more in the second half, with a couple of involvements in the build-up to Jonny May’s try, but given that’s against 14 men following Will Skelton’s red card, you can guarantee that it won’t get the recognition that it deserves.

While Atkinson’s form over recent years and his status as the only crash ball 12 available to England right now (with Tuilagi, Worcester’s Ollie Lawrence and Leicester’s Dan Kelly all out injured) should be enough to put him on the plane to Australia, it wouldn’t surprise me if this match is the excuse Eddie Jones will use to leave him out.

Welcome returns

Well there was little to be happy about for England today, fans should be pleased with the returns of Danny Care and Joe Cokanasiga. Cokanasiga was playing for England for the first time in just over a year, while Care had become one of the many whose face didn’t fit in Jones’ England, having not played since November 2018, despite having been arguably one of the best 9s in the world in recent years.

And while England lost badly, there were certainly positives to take from their performances. Cokanasiga looked to be troubled a little by an ankle injury sustained midway through the first half, but made a couple of good breaks and finished off Tommy Freeman’s stunning kick counter with a strong carry to the line with a tackler hanging off of him. With his size and power, he provides a different option out wide that could be especially useful with Manu Tuilagi missing the tour, if they can get him coming in off his wing and find some holes to punch him through in midfield.

And as for Care, well his experience and quality certainly helped England bring some shape to their attack. Will he be given the chance to show his quality Down Under? Or was he just brought in as Eddie wanted an experienced 9 in camp while Ben Youngs was still with Leicester. If care isn’t on the plane to Australia, it may be time for a riot.