Joe the bulldozer rumbles out alert for the World Cup
JOE COKANASIGA gone from startling Queen to alarming Commonwealth.
At the start of last year, bare-chested and dressed as a Fijian warrior, Cokanasiga greeted Her Majesty at a Norwich arts show with a club in his hand.
On Saturday at Twickenham, it was the rugby world who were left wide-eyed as the giant winger bulldozed Australia to deliver a clear message that England mean business as they head into a World Cup year.
“Big Joe on the wing, he’s a freak,” team-mate Jamie George said after the 21-year-old powered out of a tackle to score one try and was denied a second after a barnstorming run only by two defenders risking life and limb to gang up on him.
“Physically he is incredible. People like that have the X factor – and there aren’t many in world rugby like that at the minute.”
Cokanasiga is the first England player for four years to score tries in each of his first two Tests.
England coach Eddie Jones warned: “He’s just starting. He’s still got his training pants on. Wait until he gets proper pants. He’ll be able to play a bit.”
Cokanasiga’s display, allied to the set-piece dominance of his forwards, had former Wallaby Matt Giteau describing England as the “real deal”, a verdict that will send ripples of apprehension across the Commonwealth fields of the southern hemisphere.
The second half was what Jones demanded the day he took charge, after Australia had humiliated has the the
ENGLAND AUSTRALIA
England on the Twickenham stage.
The set-piece was watertight, the breakdown was efficient, and the two tries they conceded made it six across four Tests – not the worst given Jones has changed their defensive system.
They cannot yet play for 80 minutes, which cost them against New Zealand and will do so again if they do not sharpen their act against Ireland next time out. But the pluses of this autumn outweigh the minuses, particularly the return of Manu Tuilagi and the emergence of Cokanasiga, all 6ft 4ins and 18st of him.
These are Jonah Lomulike dimensions and there is no disguising the similarity in styles between the late, great All Black and the youngster who is so inspired by his example. Jones now has 68 days to same prepare for the Six Nations opener against Ireland in Dublin and England need to make that time count.
Ireland are deservedly ranked No 2 in the world after a record-breaking year brought a Grand Slam, a series win in Australia and the prized scalp of New Zealand.
England have creases in their game still to iron out before they are equipped to win at Lansdowne Road for the first time since 2013.
Owen Farrell’s tackling technique has to be high on that list after he again got away with a ‘no-arms’ hit against the Wallabies.
Against South Africa it should have cost England victory. On Saturday it might not have changed the result but a penalty try and yellow card would have allowed Australia to go in ahead at the break and perhaps prevented England scoring so early in the second half.
England’s other issue is playing only in patches. Admittedly when they do, they look white hot, with power in the set-piece and razor-sharp runners in the backs. “The challenge for us is to do it for longer periods,” said Maro Itoje.
“Throughout the series we dipped in, dipped out. It’s fair to say we’ll need to maintain levels of concentration and aggression against Ireland.
“But you look at the personality types and the character of this squad and this is exactly the type of
game we want to be in.”
ENGLAND – Tries: Pens: AUSTRALIA – Tries: Con: Pens: Cons: