After the 30-28 defeat to Australia in Saturday’s first test, England know they can’t afford another mistake in today’s second game.
Eddie Jones has debuted Guy Porter and Tommy Freeman, with Jack van Poortvliet also in the middle of scrum. Never a boring moment when it comes to Jones’ selections in England …
The debate will rage, and yet this is a side capable of squaring the series. Goalkeeper, witty and tough, was one of the most important players in the Leicester Tigers ’triumphant Premiership campaign. Van Poortvliet played a major role, building on an innovative 2020-21 campaign. Freeman is an enormously exciting talent.
Regardless of the staff, you feel that this game is a turning point for Jones. As Austin Healey writes in his latest Telegraph column this week, sometimes “it seemed impossible to get Jones out, like Boris Johnson before … If England play well and win, and their youngsters act, then they stay. But if he loses, I think Eddie is probably gone. “
England are playing to avoid a fifth straight defeat and are also coming to an agreement with the demise of their eight-game winning streak against the Wallabies.
“It surprised me and I thought they were better than we thought they would be. It was probably a little naive on our part. It’s good for them,” England team Ellis Genge said yesterday.
“What are we going to do to turn it around? Find out on Saturday. Go stronger. We have to be better everywhere. We have to be better because we lost. They won’t catch us cold.
“We have to be better overall. I know it’s a vague way of saying it, but we have to be better in every facet. We had a five percent discount everywhere, which makes a big difference.” I don’t think we were miles away. They were good, very good, and at the highest level they sanction you for being out of anything. “