England avengers primed to explode
Eddie’s energy and intent will be infectious
EDDIE JONES has been showing his England team footage of the 1932-33 Bodyline cricket series this week, which tells us everything about his mindset and how England will approach the First Test in Brisbane this morning.
England will be close to the edge, they will play with a snarl and immense physicality, just like England’s cricketers did under Douglas Jardine back on that controversial tour.
Jardine, incidentally, is one of my favourite sporting figures and I was delighted when the Aussie press tried to demonise me by comparing me to the ruthless Scot. I took it as a huge compliment.
This match is really personal for Eddie and that could work in England’s favour. He has been around the block as a coach and two of his most significant ‘failures’ have come in his home country.
Yes, he took Australia to the 2003 World Cup final, but they tailed off after that and he lost his job as national coach. There was also an unsuccessful spell at the Queensland Reds. Today’s game is in Queensland and Jones will have England coiled and ready. Expect an explosive start.
Eddie is looking for revenge and honour in his own country. He will have been buzzing from the moment England landed and that kind of energy and intent is infectious. This is a young England team, they are all playing for their futures and will not want to let him down. Six games into his regime, he has played a blinder and that is why I would go with all his major selections for today’s Test. If I’m honest, I would have gone with both Chris Ashton and Jack Nowell on the wing ahead of Marland Yarde, but that doesn’t mean to say Yarde is a bad or wrong choice. Selection is an art, not a science, and the only yardstick is winning or losing.
Yarde is a strong, accomplished player who is beginning to regain some of the incisiveness of two years ago when he did well on the New Zealand tour.
Eddie saw something then that he liked — perhaps it was the time Yarde ran through Richie McCaw to score a try — and has decided to go with his gut feeling. That is the coach’s prerogative.
The other player I’m intrigued by today is Luther Burrell. This is a career-defining day for him. Burrell was the biggest victim of the Sam Burgess fiasco, which seemed ridiculous at the time and which I now view as one of the low points in England rugby history.
I’m not totally convinced Burrell is the answer at No 12 but I am delighted he has been given this chance to restate his England case. My big hope is that England, while using his strength and power on occasions, don’t just see him as a battering ram. They have played very well with a real footballer at 12 in Owen Farrell and must not go away from this. At his best, when playing confidently, Burrell has a good range of offloads out of contact. I want to see all of that and perhaps a bit more from the Northampton centre today. This Test is so finely bal- anced. England have the advantage of six Test matches together since the World Cup, the momentum of a Grand Slam, and display a marked change in body language.
Australia, meanwhile, could be undercooked first up but are a world- class team under Michael Cheika and have taken the precaution of playing this First Test in Brisbane, which is their citadel.
Unlike the First Test in New Zealand two years ago, England are at full strength and reasonably fresh. It should be a fantastic contest. I’m taking Eddie Jones to exorcise some of those demons with a narrow England win.