‘Hurt’ England set to suffer further at the hands of Australia
England did not have the best preparations ahead of their Nations Championship campaign this November, as Owen Slot wrote a scathing report about the current Steve Borthwick regime.
It sparked a backlash from the England team, in the form of a response articulated by Jamie George with Sky Sports News, as he claimed the article 'hurt' the squad and they were giving their backing to their head coach.
Yet, they are possibly set to suffer further hurt this Sunday when they square off with a youthful Australia, who enter the match as underdogs, but with a point to prove against the Northern Hemisphere nation.
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England have won their last two fixtures, with victories over Fiji and Argentina in the Nations Championship this summer.
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However, it must be noted that before this, Borthwick’s side suffered a disastrous Six Nations campaign which saw them finish fifth as they only secured one victory across the whole campaign, coming in their opener against Wales.
It was a crash back to reality after they were expected by many to be challenging for the 2026 Six Nations title, but they were soundly beaten by Scotland and Ireland, while Italy secured a historic first-ever win over England.
Questions still remain around this England team, particularly due to the club game, as their sides had a terrible opening to the Champions Cup, with only Northampton Saints securing a victory.
The PREM has been subject to some criticism due to the quality of the defending from many sides throughout the past few seasons, and there may be a worry that it will carry over to the international side, the same way England’s clubs were exposed in Europe.
Australia look perfectly placed to exploit this on Sunday, as Les Kiss and his side enter this as underdogs, the way they like it.
The Wallabies enter this Nations Championship match following two defeats to New Zealand, but Dave Rennie’s side are a different beast to this English side.
Prior to these two defeats to their fierce rival, the Wallabies had been unbeaten across six matches, securing an impressive victory over South Africa.
This will fill them with confidence as their youthful side has demonstrated they can put together impressive performances to rack up high scores.
Throughout the Six Nations, England demonstrated their fragility in defence, conceding over 30 points in three of their five fixtures.
While in attack, they were incredibly underwhelming, lacking ambition and inventiveness; that was until the France match, when Borthwick relinquished his control of the game plan.
They need to continue to approach matches like this and trust they can outscore their opponent, as, due to the PREM and the direction rugby is heading, it rewards teams willing to take risks in attack.
Yet, I do not believe Borthwick or his England side will have learned this lesson from his selection, as he opted for power with a 6-2 split with his bench.
Australia will know all the pressure is on England and Borthwick, particularly after this week’s report. So, the Wallabies may be willing to throw caution to the wind.
Kiss will look to carry on their impressive form in attack, which has impressed since he took over, but he will hope that Joe Schmidt’s more disciplined approach is still part of their DNA, as they look to shut England down.
Australia smell blood, as captain Harry Wilson confirmed they want to ‘put them [England] under pressure to see how close they are as a team’.
So, as they did under Schmidt at Twickenham in November 2024, the Wallabies should cause a shock and derail England’s Nations Championship campaign - a result which I am confident will occur, adding more pressure to Borthwick as England head coach.
England and Australia’s history in test matches
It truly would be a shock if Australia were to secure victory on Sunday in this latest rugby clash between the two nations due to the history between them.
Australia may have secured 27 wins over England across the 57 Tests they have played in total; it has been a tough decade for the Wallabies.
Since June 2016, Australia have won only two of the last 13 matches in which they have squared off.
Before the turn of this century, Australia had been by far the dominant team in this fixture, but their fortunes have been on the decline; they will know this fixture is a real chance to reignite this historic rivalry as England have struggled against rugby’s elite nations.
Topics: Rugby, Rugby Union
Brendan McGilligan
