Jamie George had a stark assessment of his team's defensive performance against Australia: "unforgivable". England conceded five tries and 42 points, marking a record high in a home match against Australia and the most in any Test against them in nearly two decades. This meant England lost a game they should have won. Again. "There will be some clips that are tough to review," George acknowledged, "because we needed to be more physical and make more tackles." Balancing defense and attack is crucial; while they discussed bravery and courage, exemplified by Maro Itoje's try, the system and principles worked in theory but not in practice. Conceding 42 points at home is inexcusable. Australia gained front-foot ball and had strong runners.
Steve Borthwick also sought to highlight the positives despite the defeat. "We were in a position to win," said England's coach. "Multiple times we put ourselves in a winning position but failed to capitalize. When you turn over so much ball and make the game unstructured against a team with such pace, you give them opportunities, and we gave them too many." Borthwick noted the impact of injuries, especially Tom Curry's early exit. "Losing a world-class player affects the balance, but Alex Dombrandt played well. We took knocks but had to adapt. I had to make early changes in the first half and continued adjustments in the second." Curry's medical report is pending, but his availability for the next game against South Africa seems doubtful.
For the second consecutive Saturday, Borthwick described how England came "within the width of the post of beating New Zealand," emphasizing his team's progress. "I won't accept this as good enough because we aimed to win and were in a winning position. We've focused on developing the attacking side and confidence to move the ball, which was evident today. One longstanding challenge for the England team has been the pressure of expectations, which we've worked to overcome. I want players to feel confident to attack, but there were times we were too loose. Deviating from the game plan leads to errors." George's focus is already on the upcoming match against the Springboks. "We'll prepare well, have a great training week, a solid plan, and believe in our strategy. If it's close, we'll play with determination and aim to win."
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
