Jones and England on the back foot after Australia loss in Perth
As the sun set in the Western Australian metropolis of Perth on Saturday, hopes of Eddie Jones’ England team repeating their astonishing 3-0 whitewash of the Wallabies in 2016 faded into the night.
Two late tries from Henry Arundell and Jack van Poortvielt ensured the 30-28 losing scoreline was slightly more palatable than it looked just moments prior but a man up for the second half due to a Darcy Swain red card; the result Down Under leaves the England boss with more questions than answers.
With a squad that seemed to combine the necessity of experience with the desire to change up the roll call of names on the bench, Jones’ men went into the first of the three Tests all guns blazing.
Australia were instantly put on the back foot with a series of injuries and dismissals – including fly-half Quade Cooper in the warm up – while England were left a man up for 45 minutes.
Australia may have finished the match with 13 men – Noah Lolesio, too, was sent off – but the two late England tries flattered the tourists. They’d been beaten despite dominating for large periods.
Six years ago when Jones embarked on his first tour as England coach little was expected from his side but they delivered in spades.
Now, though, with his squad of over 30 players Jones’ men have fallen at the first hurdle.
He has two matches remaining of his last summer tour in charge of this England side and he’ll continue to hope his team will turn it around.
But with the card a supposed catalyst in the match, Jones didn’t suggest being a man up was too helpful.
“You look at the history of the game, whenever you get a red card the referee evens it up,” he said.
“He helps the team with the red card. It’s social reciprocity, it happens.
“That happens in every game of rugby I’ve seen. The team gets a red card and the opposition gets evened up, because they’re nice blokes, referees. I’m not criticising the referees, I’m not using it as an excuse, that’s the reality of rugby.”
The England coach will not care too much if, by the concluding months of next Autumn, his side are World Cup winners – but if they’re not in 18 months time then this series will be seen as another footnote in a chapter of disappointing results.
Poor results in the Six Nations; a humiliation at the hands of a scratch Barbarians side, and now one match away from a possible series loss in Australia; there will be to be hope that it will all come good… eventually.
But until it does, and Jones will be hoping it does, England can only live in the here and now. Another loss for the Red Rose, another that was allowed to get away from them.
It’s never easy coaching one of the world’s most affluent rugby teams, rich in its player pool depth, but key moments matter and Jones’ men got those wrong on Saturday.