I really enjoyed watching England beat Australia. Not just because it was Australia, but because we played an excellent game of rugby. I prevented myself from learning the score as I was at work followed by a Halloween party. I shall forever be indebted to the hosts for recording the match and preventing those that knew of the score from talking until after we'd all watched the match the following morning.
Let's start with the Man of the Match shall we? Fully deserved of the honour, Mike Brown had a game to remember. His incredible up-and-under followed up by picking the ball off the head of Will Genia was a joy to watch. A real contrast to the usual kick-and-forget rugby that we've become accustomed to recently. It was like watching Clement Poitrenaud, who I consider to be one of the best international fullbacks to have played, in the ingenuity of his game on Saturday. Special mention goes to the touch judge who didn't see how clearly Brown was in touch in the build up to one of England's tries. Although Cooper could have done better with that kick.
Talking of Quade Cooper, he is a mentalist isn't he? Great rugby player though. He plays with strength and flair. It's very rare to have a rugby player that can combine those two traits. His kicking left a lot to be desired and he seemed to attack Marlon Yarde without any reason to. He needs to control his temperament otherwise he could lose his spot. As my host for the weekend said, "If it weren't for rugby, he'd be in prison." If he carries on the way he's going, he might just end up there anyway.
By contrast to Brown, Billy Twelvetrees had a game to forget at 12. None of the excellence that he displayed during the Six Nations was on display against Australia. He has more to give and the England fans know it. He was given a very warm cheer from them when he was replaced by Toby Flood towards the end of the match. He just needs a bit more confidence.
I actually called that replacement, and my host will back me up. Owen Farrell had been struggling through most of the match but his try, and subsequent conversion, gave him confidence in himself. As a match average, a regular coach would have substituted him and brought on the more experienced Toby Flood to close out the game. I remember at the 2003 World Cup, Wilkinson was struggling during one of the knockout games. To bring him off would have knocked his confidence going forward, as it would have done on Saturday to Farrell. So, instead, in 2003 Mike Catt came on at Inside Centre instead to relieve some of the in-hand kicking duties and line-marshalling from Wilkinson. I suggested that they do the same as Twelvetrees was playing poorly and Farrell's confidence was beginning to build. I believe that decision showed a lot of maturity on the part of Stuart Lancaster and I was proud of myself for calling it.
Moving onto the forwards and the brothers Vunipola staked their respective claims for next year with outstanding displays at 1 and 8. Tom Wood showed maturity and understanding as he bounced back from all the media speculation over the England captaincy to put in a solid performance at 6. Then there's Chris Robshaw.
Since he was named as England captain, I have always championed his appointment. The only game I feel he hasn't contributed his utmost was last March against Wales. Since then, he has shown the reasons why he is England captain in the way he dealt with not going on tour with either the Lions or England in Argentina.
Then he goes and grabs a very bizarre try at the weekend. A try that was unusual in that it did not involve any forwards doing what they would normally be doing. From Billy Vunipola's charge down to Robshaw's positioning, they looked more like backs. Very pleased with that try. As I was with Farrell's try. A moment of brilliance (and luck thanks to Dylan Hartley) to spot the gap. He was surprised by the gap though.
The debutants Marlon Yarde and Joel Tomkins were certainly interesting and provide a good balance between experience and youth within the starting lineup.
Throughout all this there were a few negatives. Tom Youngs again could not sort out his lineouts and the ball rarely made its way towards either Yarde or Chris Ashton.
I'm looking forward to the next couple of tests, especially New Zealand. It will be a tough test as they will be out to avenge the record defeat 12 months ago but this England team is beginning to excite in the build up to the 2015 World Cup on home soil.
No comments:
Post a Comment