Mako Vunipola
Not as industrious as last week, though probably because players around him stepped up. Scrum wasn’t at its peak and got called on a few early engagements. 5/10
Dylan Hartley
Missed his mark a couple of times, but showed up in the loose a bit more than normal. England looked controlled throughout under his guidance, but is it a coincidence that we frequently break loose once he has departed? 5/10
Dan Cole – Any scrum trouble didn’t appear to come from his side. Apart from that, he was conspicuous. 5/10
Courtney Lawes
My man of the match. Shifted to blind-side early on, he was devastating in the tackle, carried well in the loose and showed some silky hands as well. His physical presence makes him vital to have in the team at the moment. 8/10
Joe Launchbury
Ran his second-row partner close as my MOTM, but picked up the (nearly as prestigious) official award. Was a constant presence with ball in hand and linked very well. Makes a nuisance of himself on all opposition ball. 8/10
Chris Robshaw
Ran a few cracking lines, linking well and offering himself more. Gave an uncharacteristic silly penalty away, but also did his best to hold up a try. 7/10
Sam Underhill
Went off with a head injury early on. Made himself available to carry a touch more when he was on, but didn’t have the time to make a real impact. 5/10
Nathan Hughes
The ball was slippery, but you would expected your most explosive ball carrier to protect it a little better than he did. Worked hard in defence, but didn’t have the impact that may have seen England gain earlier momentum. 4/10
Ben Youngs
Much better than last week. Used good control when his opposite number was losing it and his vision set up Elliot Daly’s try. Loses a mark purely due to what his replacement was able to do though. 6/10
George Ford
As ever, he looks better with Farrell on the pitch. England were playing in the right areas of the field and looked a lot more composed than their counterparts. Didn’t get the backline firing like he is capable of though. 6/10
Elliot Daly
Gains a whole mark due to his refusal to give up on a seemingly lost cause that gave England breathing room. Didn’t put a foot wrong, but didn’t look for as much work as his colleague on the opposite wing. 7/10
Owen Farrell
As with Ford, exerted authority in the tricky conditions, which eased England through the opening of the game. The backline rarely had the opportunity to attack fluidly, but when it did, Farrell was at the heart of it. 7/10
Jonathan Joseph
Really does seem to be in the team based on defence right now, which is bizarre, but possibly justified. On the rare occasions he did get the ball he had little room to manoeuvre, yet still came away with a try. 6/10
Jonny May
Marvellous work-rate from the Leicester man. A little too much at times, when he gave away a flurry of penalties. A constant nuisance to the Wallabies and came away with yet another try. 7/10
Anthony Watson
Mixed bag from the full-back. When given the space, he looked like he could do anything with it, but was shackled before he really got going. Not the most authoritative under the high ball, but athletic enough to get above his opponent. 6/10
Bench
The best bench in world rugby? Maro Itoje was an early entrant, who looked busy, but made a few unusual errors. The real winner was Danny Care. In his brief run-out, he made two tries and scored one. Phenomenal. 9/10
Rating system
After some fair complaining about my, mostly, generous ratings last week, I have decided that calls for a rating system are justified. Here they are:
10 – World-class performance
9 – Great
8 – Very good
7 – Quite good
6 – Solid
5 – Average
4 – Off the boil
3 – Poor
2 – Bad
1 – Horror show
by Joe Large
Agree with the highest mark going to the bench. Eddie’s “finishers” unit is arguably England’s biggest strength at the moment. If I were an England player I wouldn’t feel aggrieved at being picked for the bench; it’s almost a compliment, because he’s expecting those players to have a significant impact.
Danny Care was awesome.
Gutted for Underhill, was really looking forward to watching him smash some Aussies in the tackle.
Another website gave Hartley 8/10. Not sure Id go that far, but he had one of his best games for a while.
I’d definitely have Hartley a point or maybe even two higher, and I’d bump Youngs up one too. He threatened really well around the fringes and whilst Care clearly was awesome, that doesn’t take away from the groundwork that Youngs laid for an hour.
Hartley apart for one tackle had no impact on this game and as far as scoring him on this game, a one (1), just don’t get Jones picking him.
According to England’s stats released after the game he made 9 tackles (ave. was 5), 4 turnovers (ave. was 0.4) and broke the gainline a couple times to boot (again above the average England player). According to their stats he was what they define as the “top influencer” in the match.
Now I realise those stats aren’t exactly groundbreaking in their own right, but when you throw in how vital his scrummaging and throwing is to England, alongside just how many bloody rucks the man hits; any assertion that he doesn’t do anything is just wildly off the mark.
I do personally think George is a slightly better player but I don’t think the gap is as much as some like to pretend (outside of carrying ability), and I can completely understand why he keeps getting picked.
Your comment about Hartley: “but is it a coincidence that we frequently break loose once he has departed?” displays a lack of knowledge. EVERY game of rugby breaks up after the 60 minute mark. That’s when the attritional work of the forwards pays dividends as teams tire and defensive structures come under more pressure.
England are blessed with having JG as a finisher. As the more explosive runner of the two, it’s good tactics to have him come on after Hartley — who is a better scrummager IMHO — has done a good ‘softening up’ job.
That Aussie scrum is not the laughing stock it once was. Under Mauro Ledesma they have become formidable scrummagers, and we did well against them.
The main difference was that their front five tired after about 65 minutes whereas ours didn’t.
So, putting your comment about Hartley into this wider context, I’d say you’re a bit wide of the mark.
I thought Itoje added some energy to the team when he came on and was great in the line out and, at slowing down Aus ball in and around the rucks.
I thought the balance of having all three locks on the pitch actually worked really well and would love to see a Lawes, Underhill and Hughes combination. I know Robshaw wouldn’t add much off the bench but I would give him a rest and let Simmonds have a longer run off the bench for the Samoa game.
Underhill isn’t fit so I have a feeling we’ll see Robshaw in the 7 shirt again…
Personally I’d like to see Simmonds play there but I don’t think it’ll happen.
Does Simmonds play across the back row for Exeter? Seen him play at 6 and 8 but not 7?
Pretty sure he started 7 in his last Prem game before the AIs. He’s definitely played there so it’s an option
Would be interesting to see Curry (is it Tom?) And Robshaw. Might see a bit of jackaling then and greater pace off the mark.
Alas, Tom Curry injured himself a couple of weeks ago in training camp.
Hughes worth more than a 4 and Hartley undermarked too. Farrell and Daly overmarked. Were the bench really a 9? Itoje did well enough and Care was outstanding. But the rest had little impact i’d suggest.
Not sure I’d agree with that.
Marler, George and Williams made a big difference in the scrum, forcing the Aussies backwards. It was their shunt that lead to May’s try.
Simmonds didn’t get much of a chance to show his stuff but he controlled the ball well from the scrum referenced above before breaking and feeding Care
Slade only got 10 mins.
Pretty good from all of them I’d say and outstanding from Itoje and Care
If whichever Curry is in favour is injured, I’d be happy to see a backrow for Samoa of
6. Simmonds
7. Robshaw
8. Hughes
or, even though i think Simmonds is probably too small for 8 at this level
6. Mercer
7. Robshaw
8. Simmonds
Rubbish, if you are good enough, then you big enough. Simmonds, head and shoulders best number 8 in English Rugby at this time, Underhill and Jack Willis are the future at 7 and 6.
Isn’t the saying that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough? I’m not so sure it applies to weight…
Rugby is a hugely physical sport and weight plays an absolutely massive part in that. Certainly players can punch above their weight but you can’t give away 10-20kg to your opposite man if you play in the pack.
Agreed Big Dia
Hooper isn’t held back by his size and he’s an imp!
Nor were J Robinson and Wade in the backs. Size thing is a bit of a red herring though it can help when combined with the requisite skills and natural athleticism.
In boxing they have a saying “A good bigún will always beat a good littleún.” I suspect it applies to rugby too Big Dia, and although Simmons is playing well, so are Mercer and Wilson. Line Simmonds up against Faletau, Read, or Billy V and I suspect he would not punch quite enough above his weight. Mercer has played a lot at eight, but I suspect will play at 7 at international level because he also is not quite big enough. I think both he and Simmonds would have to bulk up by at least 10 kilos without losing any pace in order to be considered at 8, and then will only play there if we have two really tall flankers. Underhill has potential but is a long way off the finished article as a carrier and over the ball. Agree with you about Willis. I think he has huge promise but probably won´t make it into the squad until after the next World Cup. I haven´t seen him, but isn´t his brother supposed to be a bit tasty as well?
Harsh on both props. Australia are now a good scrummaging unit, and when two almost equal packs meet the front rows have to expend most of their energy in the tight. Cole is playing well at the moment and causes a lot of disruption without getting pinged as much as he used to. Hughes way undermarked. Hope Mercer gets a run out on Saturday, and that Care gets a well earned start. Would love to see Farrell at ten but it is not going to happen.
Mercer to play at 7.