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When England finished their 2016 series in Australia with a flourish, they had a backline with an emphasis on ball-handling rather than manhandling. Fired by George Ford at fly-half, the aim was to be reactive and revel in the unstructured. They scored 44 points that night in Sydney, their record against the Wallabies, and here they equalled their highest tally at home against the 2015 World Cup finalists but their approach was markedly different.
There was a period towards the end when Ben Te’o, Manu Tuilagi and Joe Cokanasiga made up three-quarters of the three-quarter line, not ones to take the outside route when there is a defender to plough through. The only survivor from the outside backs who had played in Sydney 29 months before was Owen Farrell, and he had been shifted to fly-half from the centre.
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The England head coach, Eddie Jones, has gone back to the future with the World Cup now nine matches away. This victory, which should have been even more comfortable, was built on English staples: the set pieces. Australian scrums tend to find themselves with only a reverse gear here and if the home side’s dominance did not resurrect the days when Andrew Sheridan mangled props in green and gold, it provided a platform for attack and led to the opening try two minutes in.
That followed a passage of play which summed up the hapless, calamitous state Australia are in after a year in which they have lost nine matches. They conceded a needless five-metre scrum when Dane Haylett-Petty’s clearance kick from a ruck at which he was acting as scrum-half hit Ben Youngs rather than be charged down: England pushed Australia back, forcing the blindside flanker Jack Dempsey to remain locked to the set piece and when Mark Wilson picked up at No 8 and ran towards the short side, Youngs provided an overlap for Jonny May to score.
It took England until the second half, as it had against South Africa and Japan, to achieve cohesion. They were at their best when looking to blow a hole in the opposition defence, Kyle Sinckler, Wilson, Te’o and Cokanasiga all storming the gainline for Farrell to dictate. There was nothing subtle about their play: they sensed their opponents’ vulnerability and homed in on it.
England have been handicapped by injuries this month but that has given Cokanasiga his opportunity. He scored one try and was only denied another by a sinew-straining tackle by the Australia captain Michael Hooper, whose example was not followed by enough of his colleagues. Haylett-Petty had one of those afternoons which started badly and got worse. He scored a try but rightly had it scratched because of his forward pass in the build-up to Samu Kerevi, and found himself in the wrong place when Cokanasiga received the ball 40 metres out 15 minutes into the second half. Haylett went one way and Petty the other, leaving Cokanasiga to charge through the gap.
Australia went into the game without Kurtley Beale and Adam Ashley-Cooper for a breach of squad protocol two weeks before – the delayed decision and the minor infraction testament to a side who had lost their way and, Hooper apart, does not reflect the indomitable image of its head coach, Michael Cheika.
The Wallabies made much of an incident at the end of the first half when they trailed 13-10. Farrell had kicked two penalties to one by Matt Toomua before Israel Folau wrong-footed Farrell and stepped away from Youngs despite taking a stumble on a 35-metre run for an individual try against the run of play. The Wallabies had created little but they had another chance on the stroke of half-time when the second row Izack Rodda had the line at his mercy and Farrell standing in front of it.
As Rodda charged, Farrell lowered his shoulder and felled the second row. Australia were awarded a penalty which Cheika complained afterwards should have been at least a penalty try that would have put his side 17-13 ahead at the break. It may also have been worth a yellow card but while Cheika’s frustration was understandable after a second year here when big decisions went against his team, his ire should have been reserved for Rodda.
A second-row with a weight advantage of more than four stone and forward momentum clattered into an outside-half only to collapse in a heap.
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The legality of Farrell’s challenge should not have been an issue: Rodda should have powered his way through it, but his desire was nothing compared with the England captain’s; there is a flimsiness about the Wallabies that is not characteristic of a side coached by Cheika.
That was as good as it got for Australia. They conceded quickly after the restart, Farrell dummying into space and giving Elliot Daly the opportunity to impersonate Folau. Then came Cokanasiga before Farrell made the game secure with a penalty and concluded it with his side’s fourth try. Folau gave Australia the last word with his second but it was slight consolation.
England’s next match is against Ireland in Dublin. Eddie Jones did not quite say bring it on but he dealt an early card by saying that a World Cup was not decided by who was the best team 10 months before it started. Ireland will know what is coming: the Vunipolas should be back by then. England’s beef will be at its rawest.