Australia v England, 18 June

by **George Carlin** Mon 13 Jun 2016, 11:07 am

First topic message reminder :

Australia v England, 18 June - Page 10 Austra10

Australia v England, 18 June - Page 10 Englan10

AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND
18 June 2016
20:00 AEST (UTC+10)
AAMI Park, Melbourne

Live on [tbc]

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
Touch judges: [tbc]
Television match official: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

45 Played 45
25 Won 19
1 Drawn 1
19 Lost 25
968 Points 713

B. Recent Form

11 June 2016 - Suncorp, Brisbane: Australia 28–39 England

3 October 2015 - Twickenham, London: 13 – 33 to Australia

29 November 2014 - Twickenham, London: 26 – 17 to England

2 November 2013 - Twickenham, London: 20 – 13 to England

17 November 2012 - Twickenham, London: 14 – 20 to Australia

13 November 2010 - Twickenham, London: 35 – 18 to England

19 June 2010 - Telstra Stadium, Sydney: 20 – 21 to England

12 June 2010 - Subiaco Oval, Perth: 27 – 17 to Australia

C. Teams

AUSTRALIA
Australia v England, 18 June - Page 10 Roos10

Australia v England, 18 June - Page 10 Roos10

Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Tevita Kuridrani, Samu Kerevi, Rob Horne; Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps; James Slipper, Stephen Moore (capt), Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Sam Carter, Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper, Sean McMahon.

Replacements (three to be omitted): Tatafu Polota-Nau, Toby Smith, Greg Holmes, James Horwill, Dean Mumm, Wycliff Palu, Ben McCalman, Liam Gill, Nick Frisby, Christian Leali'ifano, Luke Morahan

ENGLAND
Australia v England, 18 June - Page 10 Lion10

Australia v England, 18 June - Page 10 Lion10

by Poorfour Sat 18 Jun 2016, 4:30 pm

That won't do for Eddie. He will want to more next week.

But what a performance. One of the all time great defensive efforts, matched with taking the chances when they were on offer. And as the margin of victory was more than 15 points, England get double ranking points from this, and Australia lose double.

Ford my MOTM. Enormous defensive effort from a 10, and ran the game well.

by DaveM Sat 18 Jun 2016, 4:33 pm

Really impressive stuff. The good times have been a long time coming for English rugby, but hopefully they'll last for a while now. Amazing defence.

by lostinwales Sat 18 Jun 2016, 4:35 pm

Hammersmith harrier wrote:
lostinwales wrote:On paper a fit (both of them) Slade/Manu combo would be pretty tasty.

What we have now works, but is at least partially driven by the fact that Ford is just brilliant at many things but rubbish at place kicking and Farrell is solid at most things but brilliant at scoring in 3's.

If it isn't broke why change it, I think Manu like Burrell would struggle with the defensive set up.

Maybe, but then at least he'd scare the crap out of the defenders on the other side. I'd also point out that a fair few Manu tries have been scored from interceptions

by Alex_Germany Sat 18 Jun 2016, 4:43 pm

Fuzzy Dunlop wrote:Hooper incident doesn't look anywhere near as bad from a different angle.

https://streamable.com/e13o

Edit: just realised the link Alex included earlier has been changed to take this camera angle into account.

Yes, that looks totally different. Not sure WTF he was doing, but looks more innocent there. Maybe just trying to cover up a dog turd on THAT pitch.

by Hammersmith harrier Sat 18 Jun 2016, 4:48 pm

lostinwales wrote:
Hammersmith harrier wrote:
lostinwales wrote:On paper a fit (both of them) Slade/Manu combo would be pretty tasty.

What we have now works, but is at least partially driven by the fact that Ford is just brilliant at many things but rubbish at place kicking and Farrell is solid at most things but brilliant at scoring in 3's.

If it isn't broke why change it, I think Manu like Burrell would struggle with the defensive set up.

Maybe, but then at least he'd scare the crap out of the defenders on the other side. I'd also point out that a fair few Manu tries have been scored from interceptions

I still prefer him as a bench option, the last thing a tiring defence would want is him running at them. It's not the be all and end all but I just feel that Joseph offers more assurance overall, an interesting dilemma to have when Tuilagi is fully fit and firing.

by WELL-PAST-IT Sat 18 Jun 2016, 5:06 pm

By the 6N next year Prince Harry (FEALC) will have enough experience. He has just about everything; physicality, guile, speed, and a good boot, both for subtle kicks and 60m howitzers. Just 20 this week, he is going to get stronger and heavier over the next couple of years, he will make those Aussie behemoths look small by comparison - 6'5" and 18+ stone with speed..........................role on 2017

by Alex_Germany Sat 18 Jun 2016, 5:15 pm

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:By the 6N next year Prince Harry (FEALC) will have enough experience. He has just about everything; physicality, guile, speed, and a good boot, both for subtle kicks and 60m howitzers. Just 20 this week, he is going to get stronger and heavier over the next couple of years, he will make those Aussie behemoths look small by comparison - 6'5" and 18+ stone with speed..........................role on 2017

As an aside, why is he called Prince Harry?

by trebellbobaggins Sat 18 Jun 2016, 5:58 pm

Just watched it again and it really jumped out at me how good Robshaw was. No longer captain and released to be the silent assassin like Hill back in the day. What a way to celebrate your 50th.

by trebellbobaggins Sat 18 Jun 2016, 5:59 pm

WELL-PAST-IT wrote:By the 6N next year Prince Harry (FEALC) will have enough experience. He has just about everything; physicality, guile, speed, and a good boot, both for subtle kicks and 60m howitzers. Just 20 this week, he is going to get stronger and heavier over the next couple of years, he will make those Aussie behemoths look small by comparison - 6'5" and 18+ stone with speed..........................role on 2017

I can't work out.. Is this a urine take because he is Mallinders son?

I mean he looks decent but he has done nothing yet?

by trebellbobaggins Sat 18 Jun 2016, 6:09 pm

Pot Hale wrote:Congratulations to England and their fans on here.

Brilliant win and deserved series win.

Whitewash possible next week?

Cheers pot. It seems a big ask with a tired England and a fired up Aussie but I am sure they will give it a go.

by WELL-PAST-IT Sat 18 Jun 2016, 6:19 pm

Alex_Germany wrote:
WELL-PAST-IT wrote:By the 6N next year Prince Harry (FEALC) will have enough experience. He has just about everything; physicality, guile, speed, and a good boot, both for subtle kicks and 60m howitzers. Just 20 this week, he is going to get stronger and heavier over the next couple of years, he will make those Aussie behemoths look small by comparison - 6'5" and 18+ stone with speed..........................role on 2017

As an aside, why is he called Prince Harry?

The Doc baptised him such along with the prediction that he will be a future England and Lions Captain. It has just stuck along with the prediction, just a bit of a laugh really.

Trebell....................... neither had George North, or any number of Australians and Kiwis, if they have the talent, they get bloodied young. That is why I said next 6N, he has all the skills but still makes mistakes due to inexperience, another 20 games or so and he will have 100% more than he has now. I am not the only one to think so, most of the posters on here think he is going to be a great success, even Beshocked and he does not play for Sarries.

by mikey_dragon Sat 18 Jun 2016, 6:19 pm

I don't think England will be tired, but they could make a few changes and not really see a drop-off in performance levels - I wouldn't advise ringing the changes in Australia though. Bask in the glory anyway, it's well deserved.

by mikey_dragon Sat 18 Jun 2016, 6:20 pm

Alex_Germany wrote:
WELL-PAST-IT wrote:By the 6N next year Prince Harry (FEALC) will have enough experience. He has just about everything; physicality, guile, speed, and a good boot, both for subtle kicks and 60m howitzers. Just 20 this week, he is going to get stronger and heavier over the next couple of years, he will make those Aussie behemoths look small by comparison - 6'5" and 18+ stone with speed..........................role on 2017

As an aside, why is he called Prince Harry?

Prince Harry plays for Wales (Rhys Patchell).

by Alex_Germany Sat 18 Jun 2016, 6:26 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:
Alex_Germany wrote:
WELL-PAST-IT wrote:By the 6N next year Prince Harry (FEALC) will have enough experience. He has just about everything; physicality, guile, speed, and a good boot, both for subtle kicks and 60m howitzers. Just 20 this week, he is going to get stronger and heavier over the next couple of years, he will make those Aussie behemoths look small by comparison - 6'5" and 18+ stone with speed..........................role on 2017

As an aside, why is he called Prince Harry?

Prince Harry plays for Wales (Rhys Patchell).

Nah, I seem to recall this was the real Price Harri
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Harriman

by trebellbobaggins Sat 18 Jun 2016, 6:41 pm

fair point past-it.. and indeed Itoje though we could see his class.

As we could ford.

lets hope Harry shows it in the upcoming U20 games.

by aucklandlaurie Sat 18 Jun 2016, 7:08 pm

Congratulations England , that was a very solid 80 minute performance.

Interesting watching the two hooker captains showing a wide range of leadership skills.

Perhaps the Aussies might consider only playing future Melbourne tests at the Gee, that AAMI park is a disaster for Rugby Union scrums.

by Mad for Chelsea Sat 18 Jun 2016, 7:21 pm

Well that was fun Very Happy

Fantastic defensive effort from England, with Haskell leading the way once again. As others have said, Jones has given him simple instructions (i.e. smash everything and everyone) and he seems to be thriving. Agree too that Ford was very impressive in defense, and kicked really well from hand too.

Also a word for Jamie George. Great kick through of course for the try, but also showed a decent turn of pace before kicking, and he seems to be an absolute beast in the scrum.

But I don't want to single out too many individuals, as I thought England fronted up superbly to a man, and can't think of a single player who had a below average game TBH.

For Aus, Phipps's service was pretty awful, and he also got caught in possession a few times. Yes England put good pressure on him, but was still a pretty poor performance. Surprised Cheika didn't sub him earlier.

by DaveM Sat 18 Jun 2016, 8:32 pm

Mad for Chelsea wrote:

But I don't want to single out too many individuals, as I thought England fronted up superbly to a man, and can't think of a single player who had a below average game TBH.

I thought Brown and Watson struggled a bit, and the half backs probably kicked away a bit too much possession.

Part of me would love it if we gave the squad a run next week, but we obviously won't. It will be interesting to see if EJ wants to go for the whitewash with the same style (big pack, no attempt to dominate possession), or if he wants to start towards something more expansive. As he says, we need to be able to play flexibly.

by DaveM Sat 18 Jun 2016, 8:49 pm

trebellbobaggins wrote:fair point past-it.. and indeed Itoje though we could see his class.

As we could ford.

lets hope Harry shows it in the upcoming U20 games.

Some players just stand out. Itoje did, and so does Mallinder.

by englandglory4ever Sat 18 Jun 2016, 9:37 pm

Fantastic win for the Red Rose. Eddie and his coaches can take a lot of credit too. Restarts and lineouts were the weak points. All players put in an epic shift. Can't criticise a single player. Brilliant win and they definitely can improve. Particularly impressed with discipline again and Ford's defence was top drawer for a little un. The only disappointment could be that Haskell's body doesn't recover for next week.

by lostinwales Sat 18 Jun 2016, 9:50 pm

Having seen highlights could I just say how funny the Foley obstruction penalty actually was? When they looked at the footage all you could see was Foley running into Farrell and just bouncing off.

by trebellbobaggins Sat 18 Jun 2016, 11:13 pm

It was funny to see him come off worse and get penalised.

by **LondonTiger** Sun 19 Jun 2016, 7:55 am

DaveM wrote:

I thought .............. the half backs probably kicked away a bit too much possession.

While not disagreeing, it did seem to be the pre-arranged gameplan.

by DaveM Sun 19 Jun 2016, 8:27 am

LondonTiger wrote:
DaveM wrote:

I thought .............. the half backs probably kicked away a bit too much possession.

While not disagreeing, it did seem to be the pre-arranged gameplan.

I'm sure that is right, but it can't have been the game-plan to play with so little possession and territory so it would have been nice to see them adjust. If we tried to play like that against NZ I suspect we wouldn't get away with it.

by englandglory4ever Sun 19 Jun 2016, 8:36 am

Does Eddie put out the first team or a development side next week? No brainer. He will want to win. Only the best team available will do I'm sure. Whether they can actually win 3 on the bounce is another question.

by Poorfour Sun 19 Jun 2016, 8:38 am

DaveM wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:
DaveM wrote:

I thought .............. the half backs probably kicked away a bit too much possession.

While not disagreeing, it did seem to be the pre-arranged gameplan.

I'm sure that is right, but it can't have been the game-plan to play with so little possession and territory so it would have been nice to see them adjust. If we tried to play like that against NZ I suspect we wouldn't get away with it.

Really? It's not dissimilar to NZ's own game plan. They regularly win games without having the majority of the possession. The split in this test was extreme, but mainly because Australia did an excellent job of hanging onto the ball for phase after phase - and England did a similarly excellent job of not letting them score for phase after phase.

by **LondonTiger** Sun 19 Jun 2016, 10:10 am

Michael Cheika wrote:"You have to pay credit to England, in both games they were smart. They spoilt a lot of good ball and well done to them.

They have seen that we are going to play a lot of footy and chosen an opposite way - and that has been victorious. We will have to take it, suck it up and use the scars later on."

by englandglory4ever Sun 19 Jun 2016, 10:11 am

Clearly England wanted to keep them in their own half. It didn't always work but the quality of the d was outstanding.

by lostinwales Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:14 am

Poorfour wrote:
DaveM wrote:
LondonTiger wrote:
DaveM wrote:

I thought .............. the half backs probably kicked away a bit too much possession.

While not disagreeing, it did seem to be the pre-arranged gameplan.

I'm sure that is right, but it can't have been the game-plan to play with so little possession and territory so it would have been nice to see them adjust. If we tried to play like that against NZ I suspect we wouldn't get away with it.

Really? It's not dissimilar to NZ's own game plan. They regularly win games without having the majority of the possession. The split in this test was extreme, but mainly because Australia did an excellent job of hanging onto the ball for phase after phase - and England did a similarly excellent job of not letting them score for phase after phase.

Its also symbolic that England did not keep hold of the ball for very long. In the first test it was because we didn't have to wait long before scoring another 3 points. Less obvious in the 2nd but to put it bluntly we didn't urine around with the ball. They did

by doctor_grey Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:15 am

Interesting and good win for England. Just a few observations:
Character - This is what Lancaster was supposed to be all about, but it showed more yesterday than in last 4 years. Combined.
Back Row - England have a terrific Back Row. Eddie must be feeding them something special.
Front row - even if substituting the entire Front Row, England continued to dominate. Are our substitutes that good?
Backs - The D by the backs was mostly good, but variable, some improvement will be needed.
The turf - That was poor. At least not this poor (from the NFL): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7DTNEa2E7w

Overall, happy. England played two different styles in both games and came away with wins. The first game more open, the second more Saracens style (Gustard?).

by **LondonTiger** Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:34 am

doctor_grey wrote:Character - This is what Lancaster was supposed to be all about, but it showed more yesterday than in last 4 years. Combined.

I think you are being extremely harsh, and allowing the disaster that was the WC to rewrite previous history.

by doctor_grey Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:38 am

LondonTiger wrote:
doctor_grey wrote:Character - This is what Lancaster was supposed to be all about, but it showed more yesterday than in last 4 years. Combined.

I think you are being extremely harsh, and allowing the disaster that was the WC to rewrite previous history.

Perhaps. But I can't see a Lancastrian team showing the guts for the full 80 which this team did. Even with so many of the same players, perhaps especially so, they seem to have something intangible which was simply not on show before. Besides even if going well, there would have been mass substitutions between 55 and 65 minutes, destroying any positive flow.

by **LondonTiger** Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:42 am

Cardiff 2015 showed just as much character, for me. Even before the kick-off

by doctor_grey Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:45 am

You simply had to find something to puncture my argument. You are right of course. thumbsup

You have to give me credit: I am trying to find something to criticise George Ford. Outside of the fact his hair was still in place after the match (giving all backs a bad name), I can't think of anything.

by Alex_Germany Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:45 am

BBC reports that Nowell and Haskell are out of next week's match, so I guess Clifford and Yarde get another starting chance.

by **LondonTiger** Sun 19 Jun 2016, 11:58 am

doctor_grey wrote:You simply had to find something to puncture my argument. You are right of course.

You have to give me credit: I am trying to find something to criticise George Ford. Outside of the fact his hair was still in place after the match (giving all backs a bad name), I can't think of anything.

his shorts are too tight?

by yappysnap Sun 19 Jun 2016, 12:14 pm

Great performance from England, real team win there.

The backrow especially are a fearsome unit. Only players that seem a bit off the pace are Kruis and Brown.

Next week I'd start almost the same team. I'd swap Care and Youngs, and I'd probably move Watson to 15 and bring Yarde on.

Otherwise keep the rest the same, ask them all for one last massive push for 50 mins and then start bringing the subs on when we're home and dry 10+ up Very Happy

by doctor_grey Sun 19 Jun 2016, 12:16 pm

LondonTiger wrote:
doctor_grey wrote:You simply had to find something to puncture my argument. You are right of course.

You have to give me credit: I am trying to find something to criticise George Ford. Outside of the fact his hair was still in place after the match (giving all backs a bad name), I can't think of anything.

his shorts are too tight?

That's it! I knew I missed something. That ruddy little cumquat with the pretty hair and the shorts too tight. Makes us all look bad.........

by Barney McGrew did it Sun 19 Jun 2016, 1:09 pm

The citing officer will be busy - the grounds man will face a long ban. Maybe play the 3rd test on the beach.

by lostinwales Sun 19 Jun 2016, 1:25 pm

Barney McGrew did it wrote:The citing officer will be busy - the grounds man will face a long ban. Maybe play the 3rd test on the beach.

Pitch appalling (especially on whatever side the Ozzies were scrummaging)

Not watched the 2nd half yet but doubt that the citing officer will be doing much at all. I wouldn't mind a decent explanation of why the Robshaw tackle was YC worthy, but a set of the Oz fans seem obsessed by it. From what I saw Robshaw had his left arm over Phipps shoulder and his right arm under Phipps right arm and he rolls back. The main concern seems to be over Phipp's head hitting the sand (Can't call it 'turf') when they go to ground. It didn't actually seem dangerous.

I'd be more concerned about Moore, who just seem to lose it. Flying headbutt on Cole's ribs late on in the first half seemed stupid, especially after getting penalised for afters at the above incident. Was also pushing the 'straightness' of the lineout to the limit but not picked up so good for him.

Also Feel a teeny tiny bit sorry for Fardy. Asked to do the jobs of 3 guys and now seems to be a hate figure for not managing to do so for the whole match

by Alex_Germany Sun 19 Jun 2016, 1:56 pm

Alex_Germany wrote:BBC reports that Nowell and Haskell are out of next week's match, so I guess Clifford and Yarde get another starting chance.

I just saw the replay. It looks like Nowell bangs his head into Vunipola's leg on 80 min, 25 sec. Then he stays down whilst everyone else is celebrating.

Rotten luck to get concussed then. Can't even enjoy a post match beer.

by doctor_grey Sun 19 Jun 2016, 2:28 pm

Barney McGrew did it wrote:..........Also Feel a teeny tiny bit sorry for Fardy. Asked to do the jobs of 3 guys and now seems to be a hate figure for not managing to do so for the whole match

Fardy was totally gassed by the end. Running on a pitch with such poor footing is significantly more titing than on a firm pitch. He was not the reason Australia was defeated.[/quote]

by formerly known as Sam Sun 19 Jun 2016, 6:07 pm

englandglory4ever wrote:Clearly England wanted to keep them in their own half. It didn't always work but the quality of the d was outstanding.

Wet weather conditions. Lots of passes not sticking so play in an area of the field where mistakes can benefit you. Trust your scrum, lineout and defence. Last week was better conditions so we played more rugby.

Yappysnap, I don't think he'll bring in Care for Youngs because Care doesn't have Youngs kicking game and if the weather is poor again they'll want Benny at 9 as he offers more tactical options.

by lostinwales Sun 19 Jun 2016, 9:31 pm

Finally finished watching it. Wow. How on earth we stopped Australia from scoring.... Fardy virtually held up on the line and again and again same thing - Australia do everything but score but they can't because of the white wall.

Might have been a different game if Australia had taken the kicks that were available. Could easily have been going into the last 10 minutes 13 all and things might have gone bad. But instead Australia seemed completely unable to deal with the breakout that led to Farrell's try.

Haskell what a warrior. I noticed he seemed to be really hurting from 60 minutes (possibly a little earlier). He was moving slowly and not getting up off the ground fast and yet was still working hard, still making tackles if only by making sure he was in the right place at the right time. Should have gone off then really, but instead played another 10 minutes and they almost had to drag him off.

by doctor_grey Sun 19 Jun 2016, 9:54 pm

What does everyone think of our backup front row? They came on and seemed to provide a little burst of energy without impacting the defensive form of the team.

by **Rugby Fan** Mon 20 Jun 2016, 1:03 am

Green & Gold/Eggchasers podcast touched on the contrasting use of substitutes.

Australia at half time said they planned to ramp it up, and their new props came on after 45 minutes while Moore was subbed around the 55 minute mark. Lawes came on at 56 minutes but Jones only brought his new props on 10 minutes later, and left it until the last ten to add his other forwards.

It was largely up to the starting XV to nullify the impact of the Wallaby bench.

In the build up to Farrell's try, the only England players to handle the ball were all subs (George, Hill, Launchbury and Lawes) I thought it quite telling that Lawes held on to the ball rather than pass to Mike Brown. He surely would have passed if he though the player had the gas.

Telegraph says

Jones appears to be considering resting several senior players who had only “80 minutes left in them” at the end of a demanding season that began 12 months ago with training camps for the World Cup.

Among those likely be rested, given the demands of one of England’s most outstanding defensive displays, are James Haskell, Mike Brown, Dan Cole, Chris Robshaw and possibly captain Dylan Hartley.

Jamie George, Paul Hill, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Jack Clifford and Alex Goode should all be in contention, while Ben Te’o could come on to the bench.

by yappysnap Mon 20 Jun 2016, 9:06 am

Eddie Jones, the England head coach, is poised to make several changes to his side for the third Test in Sydney on Saturday.

Jones has challenged his squad to respond to their heroic, series-clinching victory in Melbourne like the All Blacks, who he says would “make five changes and beat the opposition 3-0”.

Jones appears to be considering resting several senior players who had only “80 minutes left in them” at the end of a demanding season that began 12 months ago with training camps for the World Cup.

Among those likely be rested, given the demands of one of England’s most outstanding defensive displays, are James Haskell, Mike Brown, Dan Cole, Chris Robshaw and possibly captain Dylan Hartley.

Haskell sustained a minor foot injury during the 23-7 win, while Jack Nowell sustained mild concussion and will have to go through the return-to-play protocol, with Marland Yarde on standby.

Jamie George, Paul Hill, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Jack Clifford and Alex Goode should all be in contention, while Ben Te’o could come on to the bench.

“I’ve written down the 23 for next week,” said Jones. “There’ll be a few changes. When I looked at the team, there were some guys there with only 80 minutes in them. They’ve been up since June last year, some are starting to show signs of battle weariness, so we’re going to have to make changes.”

Jones will also take into consideration any signs of complacency in his squad, who arrived at their Coogee training base on Sunday to ensure there is no let up in intensity as they attempt to complete a clean sweep against Michael Cheika’s side.

“Next week is the most important week, so I’m not getting too carried away,” Jones added. “It’s nice to win, to have the series done, but we want to win 3-0, then no one can argue that you’re not the better team. You win a series 3-0, no one can say it’s this referee’s decision, they did this, that, we weren’t happy with this. You win 3-0, then people have got to say this team is conclusively better than the other team. That’s what we want to be.

“Complacency always sits there. We’ll have to work next week because everyone is going to be good game now: they’re going to get slaps on the backs, their phones are buzzing with ‘Well done’, their agents are on the phone saying, ‘Now we can get you this deal’.

“We’ve got to make sure that we find the 23 players who can fix their minds on the job for next week. Whenever you’ve had a run of wins, the things you stop doing are the little things. So instead of doing that extra 30 minutes of analysis, you stop doing it. This week, the assistant coach was saying, the guy in the video room the most was Chris Robshaw. He keeps putting in that time and effort to be a better player. That’s what I’ll be looking for.”

That relentless pursuit of perfection has been key to England’s revival since the World Cup and Jones was encouraged to see his players already setting their target of a series whitewash while they were celebrating their victory just moments after the final whistle.[/code]

by dgttaylor Mon 20 Jun 2016, 9:24 am

Will mean significant changes to the back row, one of the areas that won England the series.

Harrison/Vunipola/Clifford? Too lightweight? Lawes at 6?

by bluestonevedder Mon 20 Jun 2016, 9:38 am

dgttaylor wrote:Will mean significant changes to the back row, one of the areas that won England the series.

Harrison/Vunipola/Clifford? Too lightweight? Lawes at 6?

No, no, no! Harrison for me.

by BamBam Mon 20 Jun 2016, 9:40 am

Launchbury/Lawes at lock, Itoje at 6, Clifford at 7?

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