Jones says bring on Six Nations as Wallabies walloped
ON this evidence, 2019 will be the year of the English beast. England cranked up the power as their heaviest ever backline – all 109st of it – rounded off the autumn campaign with their third victory in four matches.
They saved the best until last, with the muscle of Manu Tuilagi, Joe Cokanasiga and Kyle Sinckler combining in the second half to see off the Wallabies. Sorry, make that the Wannabies.
Eddie Jones laughed and joked as he reflected on the campaign, warning opponents that Cokanasiga will get even better when he swaps his ‘training pants’ for ‘proper pants’.
‘He’s gone shopping now,’ quipped Jones, having watched his rookie winger split open the Australia defence. Jones shared a hug with Tuilagi, who made his first Test appearance since 2016, and then issued a ‘Bring it on’ call for next year’s Six Nations.
His sparring partner, Michael Cheika, was not in such high spirits. Australia were level at halftime and they would have snatched a lead were it not for some spluttering refereeing by Jaco Peyper.
Not for the first time this autumn, the television match official was at the heart of the debate and, once again, questions were asked about Owen Farrell’s tackle technique.
‘Ludicrous,’ blasted Cheika, having watched the No 10 escape a yellow card and penalty try for a blatant shoulder charge on Izack Rodda in the 40th minute.
In the grand scheme of the scoreline, the incident made little difference but poor officiating is becoming a frustrating theme.
The Wannabies were consigned to their worst year since 1958 and England eventually romped towards their second-biggest win over Australia.
It took only 131 seconds for Jonny May to score the opening try off the back of a powerful scrum but they had to wait 40 minutes for their second. Jones’s side are masters at delivering 40-minute performances but that will not be good enough when they travel to Dublin in March to face Ireland.
Australia were shorn of Adam Ashley-Cooper and Kurtley Beale, banned for bringing three women back to their hotel room, yet they managed to land first-half counter punches.
‘All the shenanigans off the field generally brings a side together,’ said Jones. ‘In the first half, we had opportunities to get a bit further ahead but we missed those. We allowed them to re-group and get a bit of confidence.’
In the absence of turnover talisman David Pocock, Australia were hounded at the breakdown and failed to breach the English 22 for almost half an hour. Their shambolic year was summed up in one first-half moment, with Bernard Foley throwing a no-look pass to nobody, but England fumbled the ball and missed two kicks at goal. Farrell and Matt Toomua exchanged penalties before Australia salvaged their way back onto the scoreboard despite the efforts of Peyper.
After 27 minutes, following trial by the Twickenham mob, Dane Haylett-Petty had a try ruled out. Toomua was already lining up the conversion but, after some assistance from the TV producers, Peyper correctly ruled out the score for a forward pass. Home advantage? Check.
But, out of nowhere, Australia were back in the hunt. Catching the ball off balance, full back Israel Folau glided between Farrell and Maro Itoje before sidestepping Ben Youngs to score under the posts.
Minutes later, they pleaded for a penalty try when Farrell struck Rodda but had to settle for a Toomua penalty as Cheika threw a few more coins into his swear jar.
‘I went to the referee’s meeting in the first week and they referred back to the Owen Farrell tackle against South Africa,’ said Cheika. ‘They hung referee Angus Gardiner out to dry by saying that should have been a penalty in front of all the coaches. If that was a penalty, this was three penalties.’
With Cheika still fuming, Farrell conjured up England’s second try after 44 minutes.
It has been an autumn of discontent for Elliot Daly but the full back ran a close support line before weaving around Will Genia and Haylett-Petty to score. And then the Wallabies started to run out of gas.
This November has been a breeding ground of English depth and No 8 Mark Wilson – the biggest riser of the campaign – carried hard off the back of the scrum.
Training pants and all, Cokanasiga bounced off Haylett-Petty to score from a standing start. Twickenham watched in awe as its new giant winger almost scored a spectacular second in the 64th minute. Claiming the ball in the air on halfway, the rookie spun away from Foley and sidestepped Toomua but was hauled down inches short by Michael Hooper.
Jones said: ‘If you look at the players we’ve got to come back – Joe Launchbury, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, George Kruis, do you want me to go on? I think I know my 31-man squad for the World Cup pretty well but I might switch it up and go and find an average joe on the street to see if he wants to join in as well!
‘This was today though. Ireland’s a different kettle of fish and we’ll see that when we’re there. We don’t play Ireland until February so we’ll worry about that then.’
Tuilagi was introduced for an 11-minute cameo and Jones will hope to see much more of the powerhouse centre in 2019. His introduction drew the loudest cheer of the day but, fittingly, it was Farrell who scored England’s final try. This has been his autumn. Folau got a second try at the death — but it was not enough to wipe the smile off the face of Jones’s beasts.