2 days Ago By Katherine Lucas
England have built a stock of goodwill from the Twickenham crowd and their wider rugby public, but there is a clear danger of morale and belief deserting them as the losing results continue to pile up for Steve Borthwick’s men. Australia followed on where New Zealand had succeeded the previous week , and with two losses out of two at home this November, England need something special and unpredictable against the world-champion Springboks here next week to dispel the horrible feeling that this team as an average outfit on the world stage. You can take the long view and say there is the opportunity to improve before the Six Nations , and certainly plenty of time to go before the next World Cup, in 2027.
But with another winning position having literally slipped through their fingers, England look like a team who don’t know what their core game plan is, and aren’t quite good enough to assert it anyway. Read Next Why the world's most hated rugby team just want to be loved TV pundit Ugo Monye’s post-match comment caught the mood: “This whole narrative of ‘it’s unlucky, it’s tight’, it’s boring me. “We’ve been here time and time and time again.
It’s an unfortunate cycle that they need to break.” England’s captain Jamie George epitomises the type of character that the spectators were happy to throw their emotional lot in with, up to now. The hooker with a heart-on-sleeve personality didn’t even think about stifling his smile and shake of the head and puff of the cheeks, when the TV cameras were on him, just after Maro Itoje plunged over for what should have been the winning England try with two minutes of normal time remaining.
But as this sequence played out, it showed where England are right now, and it is not happy viewing. Itoje, one of their most reliable forces in so many ways, couldn’t quite hold it together for the restart, and spilled the ball as he landed, and off Australia went for the decisive score by Max Jorgensen. This was an Australia side who had lost 24 of their 35 previous Tests since October 2021, and been through Dave Rennie and Eddie Jones as head coaches in that time, before landing on Joe Schmidt.
England have a similar so-so record since Borthwick took over at the start of 2023: playing 26 matches and winning 12: Wales three times, Italy, Japan and Argentina twice each, and Chile, Samoa and Ireland . And you’ll notice that list contains none of the traditional southern hemisphere powers, after these recent losses to New Zealand and Australia, and probably the most daunting of the three, the Springboks, on their way after they have met Scotland in Edinburgh on Sunday. If you were hoping England would win this one by battering-ram muscle, there was a worrying problem in contact – George Martin lost a ball in the 49th minute, Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade between them fumbled one in the 63rd; Chandler Cunningham-South lost one in the 71st.
When contact is unreliable it undermines that other crucial c-word, continuity, which is essential if England are going play at high pace, which seems to be the plan, though they don’t always stick to it. Read Next The making of the 'understated' No 8 tipped to become 2025 Lions captain Injuries to Tom Curry and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso did not help. But top teams keep the ball moving with greater natural feel and regularity than England can currently manage.
Australia , ranked a lowly ninth team in the world before this, still possess those lovely silky skills on counter-attack. And what to make of Lawrence and Slade? Switching their jersey numbers in midweek did not change Lawrence being unable to beat enough Aussies, one on one, either with his power or his footwork. There was an offload by the Wallaby tighthead prop, Taniela Tupou, that was more adroit than anything produced by Lawrence.
It is difficult to know where England go on this, in the next seven days. Picking Alex Lozowski after six years out of the England team, or giving Luke Northmore a first cap, would lose the cohesion Borthwick has pinned his colours too all year. Such are the painful corners that losing Test matches forces coaches into.
Slade led England’s defence from the No 13 channel, but one incident just before the hour epitomised where the players are almost there, but not quite – Slade and co rushed up on the Wallabies then hesitated. It turned the blitz into just a bit. Read Next 'We've had enough': Inside Wales' fight to turn a corner after 9 losses in a row In attack Slade did not do a convincing job as a second playmaker outside Marcus Smith with go-forward possession.
There was a mutinous boo from the crowd when they thought Smith was being substituted by George Ford for the final quarter. In fact Smith switched to full-back, with Furbank taken off. Again, though, you were left scratching your head at the incompleteness.
There are times when Smith is the answer to England’s prayers, with his grubber kicks and classy presence of mind assisting the home team’s first try by Cunningham-South, and the third and fourth by Ollie Sleightholme. At other times, England do not seem to be on the same wavelength as Smith, collectively, and the question is whether that will come eventually, or is it simply the way Smith plays that makes him difficult to read by his teammates as well as by the opposition. In a wider sense this result and Ireland’s defeat by New Zealand on Friday night knocked a hole in the previously bullish prediction of the British & Irish Lions dominating in Australia next summer.
England’s woes are much more immediate..
