DEFIANT LAWES GIVES EDDIE HOPE FOR FUTURE
England captain inspires young guns to vital series victory
JUST before the cameras switched off for the final time, Eddie Jones turned to his captain and offered a word of congratulation. Courtney Lawes was slumped in his chair, exhausted, with his ankles strapped so heavily that it was a surprise the blood could reach his feet.
Lawes had just led his England team on one last defensive stand. At the end of a season that seemed to last for ever, the skipper doubled up with Luke Cowan-Dickie to pull off the turnover that wrapped up a series win in Australia. It was the 18th phase, in the 78th minute, and Lawes was clobbered by 20-stone Wallaby prop Allan Ala’alatoa in the process. His body was in bits at full time, all in the pursuit of victory.
‘He needs a good rest now,’ Jones said of of Lawes. ‘Four kids at home . . . I don’t know if he’s going to get it! Unbelievable effort.’
The Ella-Mobbs trophy had Lawes’s fingerprints all over it. The flanker has firmly established himself as England’s captain in recent weeks. He is refreshingly laid-back off the pitch but relentlessly intense on it. His laissez-faire approach to leadership has allowed the youngsters to shine, with back-three tyros Freddie Steward and Tommy Freeman playing key roles last night.
Unlike Ireland versus New Zealand a couple of hours earlier, this was not a performance to send shockwaves through the rugby world. It was several notches down in quality, but with next year’s World Cup in mind, it helped Jones narrow down his options for next year. England peaked three years too early during the previous World Cup cycle but this group still has significant room for improvement. Even with Lawes’s resolve, there is still a way to go.
While some players took a significant step towards the World Cup, others seemed to slide backwards. The first half was disastrous for Danny Care. The veteran scrum-half was charged down in the first play of the game, although he breathed a sigh of relief when Nick Frost failed to gather the ball. Later on, he was bounced in the tackle and lost the ball at the base of a ruck. The end result was an early substitution after 37 minutes, drawing parallels to a similar move that ended
Luther Burrell’s international career here in 2016.
Much of the play in the first half was sub-standard. Australia’s patched up team dominated possession but failed to capitalise. Noah Lolesio missed his first shot at goal, before Reece Hodge threw a dangerous pass into the stands. Even Taniela Tupou looked ordinary when he followed up a hustling line-break with a wayward offload.
Against the run of play, Owen Farrell kicked England’s opening points after 17 minutes. But England kept missing first-up tackles and eventually the Wallabies struck. Attacking from a lineout in their half, Samu Kerevi sucked in defenders with a powerful firstphase charge. Marika Koroibete looped into the outside space, bouncing off Guy Porter before Tom Wright charged down the right. After a one-two pass with Nic White, Wright stretched his legs to score.
As Jack van Poortvliet took over from Care, the younger generation stepped up. Steward dominated the skies and Freeman stretched his legs as both teams tried to attack down the edges.
With the clock in the red, England struck with the final play of the half. Their maul has developed into an effective weapon and they warmed it up for a lineout drive. The forwards attempted to bash their way over, reaching eight phases before Steward used his footwork to score down the blindside.
Early in the second half, Ellis
Genge set the tone with one of his trademark carries. Every Australian player will be happy to wave him off at Sydney Airport today. He steamrollered over the top of Kerevi in a meeting of muscle, shortly before Farrell kicked another three-pointer.
It has been a mixed series for Marcus Smith. The jury is still out on his combination play with Farrell, but there was a flash of instinctiveness to his pivotal score. Cowan-Dickie got his palm on an overthrown lineout and Smith steamed on to the ball and sprinted 50 metres to score.
Towards the end, England’s players hung on for their lives. The sport has squeezed every last drop out of its assets so it was little surprise when the Wallabies threatened a fightback. With squad sizes shrinking because of salarycap cuts, this should be a warning that players must be managed smartly over the next 14 months or England will limp into the World Cup.
If Quade Cooper was fit to offer a steady hand in the Wallaby No 10 jersey, this series could have been a different story. England’s pack turned over a Wallaby maul, while Steward pulled off a last-ditch tackle to keep out Pete Samu. The likes of France, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa would not have been so forgiving.
Folau Fainga’a finally barrelled over to reduce the deficit to four points. Everything was on the line. The Wallabies threatened again, but they were stifled by a Lawes and Cowan-Dickie double whammy. England held on, rounding off the season on a high, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. First, though, Lawes has to get back to deal with the kids.