England vs Australia

Old Foes England, Australia Ready To Face Off Again

Old Foes England, Australia Ready To Face Off Again

A look at England and Australia after last weekend.

Nov 20, 2018 by Alex Goff
null

Coach Eddie Jones has warned England to be wary of his native Australia when they face a Wallaby side coached by "street-fighter" Michael Cheika in their final international of the year.

England have won just five of their 11 Tests in 2018 and the Wallabies a mere four out of 12 heading into their showdown at Twickenham on Saturday.

Watch England vs Australia LIVE Nov. 24 on FloRugby. KO 

As a result, the positions of the two coaches, who played rugby together at Sydney club Randwick, have been called into question, with Cheika facing some particularly strident calls to quit ahead of next year's World Cup.

"Cheiks, he's my old mate, he's always at his best when they (Australia) are under pressure," said Jones.

"He loves that, he's a street-fighter, so it does make them dangerous but at the same time we've had a tough year too and we don't mind a scrap either, so it should be a good scrap."

Success on Saturday would mean England had won three of their four Tests this month after launching their November campaign with a 12-11 victory over South Africa.


The Best Of Nov 17



Jones and Cheika head into their latest reunion on the back of victories, with England coming from behind to defeat 2019 World Cup hosts Japan 35-15 on Saturday, when Australia beat Italy 26-7 in Padua.

Jones, Australia's coach when they lost the 2003 World Cup final to England, has won all five of his Tests against the Wallabies since taking charge of the Red Rose following their first-round exit on home soil at the 2015 World Cup.

But he played down any talk of an England edge over Cheika's men, saying: "All I know is they had a good win (against Italy) and they'll be ready for the battle. I think they understand where we're strong and we understand where they're strong."

Australia's result over Italy bumped the Azzurri down below the USA in the World Rugby rankings, but was also a confidence booster for the Wallabies. Adam Ashley-Cooper, who returned to the Wallabies for the first time since 2016, said "it felt great. I'll be honest I was a little nervous. I was really excited for the opportunity, very grateful as well."

Ashley-Cooper said he can still perform at the highest level, and he had a strong performance, as did prop Taniela Tupou, who scored two tries. It was a good day for a struggling Australia team, and one wonders who would be feeling good had England not turned things around at halftime.

England were largely outplayed for most of a first half that saw Japan lead 15-10 at the break following tries for Ryoto Nakamura and captain Michael Leitch.

At that stage, Japan were threatening an upset to rank alongside their 34-32 victory over South Africa, achieved when Jones was their coach, at the 2015 World Cup. But Jones said his players turned it around.

"We picked an experimental team, purposefully, to be tested and we got tested," he explained.  "Then we needed to respond and the response was absolutely fantastic."

"The worst result for us would have been to go out there and win 70-0, because we'd have learned nothing; absolutely nothing," Jones insisted.

© Agence France-Presse / FloRugby