GO AND MAKE HISTORY
Jones boys can kill off wounded Wallabies
AMID so much talk of history, England will take their first shot at series glory today armed with a cautionary tale from this city 15 years ago, featuring Jonny Wilkinson in the unfamiliar role of pantomime villain.
In the aftermath of their 39-28 win over Australia in the first Test in Brisbane, Eddie Jones has been alert to the threats of complacency and lost focus.
As a means of keeping the minds of his players fixed firmly on their target, the Australian has rammed home a message from the Lions’ crusade Down Under in 2001 — when an opening win ultimately gave way to a 2-1 defeat.
Back then, Jones was on the other side of the divide as an up-andcoming coach who helped Australia A inflict the only midweek defeat on Graham Henry’s Lions.
The point he has emphasised to captain Dylan Hartley this week is that they can’t afford to switch off for a second or the consequences are colossal.
That was the case at what was then Colonial Stadium, across town from today’s venue — AAMI Park — when Wilkinson’s loose pass early in the second half gifted Australia an interception try which ignited their fightback from 11-6 down to claim a 35-14 win. A week later, they clinched the series in Sydney.
‘It’s all about concentration,’ said Jones. ‘You throw one loose pass, Joe Roff picks it up, he scores and the whole game changes. It’s about sticking to what we’re good at, make sure we control the game and don’t give Australia opportunities to play unstructured rugby.’
Asked if he had detected any signs of complacency, the head coach added: ‘No, they’ve been pretty good. The senior players have been outstanding. Australia are a wounded animal and they are going to come hard at us but we’ve had a good preparation and we are in a good spot to play well.’
Jones repeatedly praises Hartley’s inspirational captaincy and that much has been evident since the first skirmish in Queensland. There was no triumphalism. The immediate must- do-better response spoke volumes about England’s raised expectations.
‘After a historic win in Brisbane it would have been easy to say, “We’ve done it, we’ve made some history”,’ said Hartley. ‘But straightaway afterwards in the changing room we said, “Well done everyone but we park that here and we go again”.’
On Monday, during training at a school in a Melbourne suburb, Hartley brought the players together and delivered a stirring call to arms.
‘This is our cup final,’ he said. ‘It was nice to do that in Brisbane but the bigger picture, the real history, is to be made this week. It is really exciting. We are desperate to keep going. We have had our best week’s preparation. We are prepared, we have done everything, we have left no stone unturned. We are ready to go and play.’
Prior to the opener, England trumpeted a ‘Bodyline’ game plan and Jones’s side stayed true to that mantra by winning with ferocity. Australia are hell-bent on meeting fire with fire up front, so much so that they have changed three of their front-five forwards to address chronic issues with their scrum, line-out and all-round physicality.
Predictable local allegations of English cheating in the set-piece shouldn’t impact on the occasion, especially after the teams met the highly experienced referee, Craig Joubert, yesterday. While the South African is perhaps best-known for sprinting off the Twickenham pitch at the end of last year’s World Cup quarter-final between the Wallabies and Scotland, he is too assured to be influenced by partisan sniping.
Much will depend on whether the fragile surface can take the strain when the packs go head to head.
If it does, England will hope to build a platform to launch Billy Vunipola as a mighty ball- carrier without equal in the home ranks.
That in turn would allow the playmaking pair of George Ford and Owen Farrell to do more than merely kick for territory and wait for pressure to yield shots at goal, although if that is what it takes, that is what they will do.
At least initially, Jones is bound to send his players out with orders to pick up where they left off a week ago, with an abrasive onslaught up front. England must avoid a repeat of their first-quarter scrambling in Brisbane, but Jones is adamant that the defensive glitches will have been ironed out. ‘You can fix problems in one week,’ he said.
The Wallabies will have to cope without the breakdown influence of David Pocock and they have Sean McMahon deputising as an unfamiliar, lightweight No 8.
The onus will fall on Michael Hooper to abandon the wide open spaces and prioritise poaching at rucks. If Australia have parity or better up front, the hosts will expect Bernard Foley to ignite an attacking blitz and release Israel Folau to run amok.
It will be confrontational. England will need to impose themselves through force again but steer clear of disciplinary traps, though Hartley has a ‘gut feeling’ that they are all ready. If England can keep their heads, they can finish the monumental job they have started.