ENGLISH rugby is on a high right now and why not?
The boys in white have just won a series in Australia for the first time and can whitewash the Aussies in Sydney this Saturday. An achievement that is particularly sweet when you recall that the Wallabies had convincingly beaten them 33-13 in a pool game last October at the World Cup England hosted.
Everything is going England’s way at the moment.
At a lower level, in the Under-20 world tournament, England will meet Ireland in the final also this weekend, hoping to win the title for the third time in four years. Last year they lost the final to New Zealand but it is at this level that England has been dominating since 2013, taking over New Zealand’s reign at the top.
In the world rankings England has climbed up to second behind New Zealand, up from eight at the beginning of the year. They displace Australia which has dropped to fourth, below South Africa.
When Australian Eddie Jones took over as the first foreign coach for England after the World Cup, he declared that he wanted England to eventually play the kind of rugby the world champions All Blacks would want to emulate, not the other way round.
Having achieved his first target, against the Wallabies, Jones now understandably is targeting the All Blacks but he will have to be patient because the two are only scheduled to meet possibly in November 2017 or the year after during the autumn internationals in the north.
He believes that challenging the long dominance of the All Blacks at the top would be good for the game and there are many, including in New Zealand, who agree that an England coached by Jones will be a serious threat.
England has always played with a strong set-piece and defence and their series against the Wallabies were no different. What they need to add to their armoury is an expansive running game, clinical kicking and better skills set. You have all these with you and you will worry the All Blacks.
However, Jones must not forget that the All Blacks are also constantly in search of improvements, even when the rest of the rugby world cannot see what else they need to work on.
Jones is contracted to coach England until the next World Cup in Japan, where his mother is from, and where he coached for many years. He reckons that about 70 per cent of the present England team will make it to RWC 2019.
Having bought so much progress to the England team, Jones is now already thinking of the next RWC in a little over three years from now. With that in view, he likens the three Tests series against the Wallabies as a precursor in that the team that wants to win the RWC will have to win three games in a row in the knockout stages. He thus looks at Saturday’s Test as a dress rehearsal.
The All Blacks also wrapped up their three Tests series against Wales last weekend and this Saturday play under the roof in Dunedin.
They bring back winger Julian “The Bus” Savea after dropping him out of the squad for the second Test and give a start at blindside to debutant Elliot Dixon. On the bench are two other debutants -- Dixon’s Highlanders fellow backrower Liam Squire and Blues prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
In South Africa it’s level at 1-1 between the Springboks and Ireland, with the third and final Test to be played in Port Elizabeth.
Already Ireland has done what previous Irish sides failed to do in South Africa and that is to win a Test but if they can last the distance, play for 80 minutes, they are in with a chance on Saturday to win the series.
They were well ahead in the second Test in Johannesburg, leading 19-3 at the break and again by a margin of 16 points with 16 minutes to go but fatigue at high altitude appeared to creep into their game. Players were falling off tackles as the Springboks ran hard and straight at the defence to win 32-26 after scoring four tries.
If Ireland is successful in the third Test, it will be the first of the four home nations to win a series in South Africa.
Just like the first Test which Ireland won 26-20, poor discipline allowed Paddy Jackson to convert the penalties and put pressure on the Springboks.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt made five changes to the starting line-up in the second Test but denied that he was saving those replaced for the decider. One player not available to Schmidt is centre Robbie Henshaw who is injured.
Never has the concluding weekend for the June internationals been so keenly awaited.