Storm breaks in Pom victory
EDDIE Jones has credited Melbourne Storm defensive coach Jason Ryles with the disruptive tackling sting that helped give his England team bragging rights over the Wallabies for another 12 months.
Already with a staff of more than 20, Jones flew Ryles to London on a short-term consultancy basis to add extra edge to the defence that kept the Australians tryless at Twickenham last weekend.
Jones has a highly regarded full-time defensive coach in Paul Gustard but wanted a top-up of something more, which is why he turned to Ryles, the former Test forward who played 248 NRL games.
“Absolutely, Jason was important. The style of defence in rugby has shifted again and I wanted him to work on collisions and the disturbance the second man into a tackle can cause,” Jones said. “Relentless defence is a Storm trademark and that’s what we want.”
The English did not concede a try in their 30-6 victory at Twickenham, although on a different day both Michael Hooper and Marika Koroibete would have scored.
Confronting an Aussie in the enemy camp is nothing new and another significant hurdle awaits against resurgent Scotland at Murrayfield on Sunday, when the temperature is predicted to be a chilly 7C.
Scotland’s defence is expertly marshalled by Queenslander Matt Taylor, a winning factor for the Reds during their 2011 Super Rugby title season and already with a 24-17 upset of the Wallabies on his resume from June in Sydney.
Thanks to Taylor’s analysis, the canny Scots knew many of the plays that were going to be hurled at them even before the Wallabies made it easier by bungling the execution of many of them.
The Wallabies have gone up three gears since then but so, it seems, have the Scots, who bowed just 22-17 to the All Blacks last weekend with their urgent work around the tackle and flair in attack thanks to coach Gregor Townsend.
Injured Wallabies forwards Adam Coleman (thumb) and Ned Hanigan (knee) are already on flights home but no tour replacements are being called in because young lockflanker Lukhan Tui is expected to be fit after hamstring issues.