Eddie Jones' England task made more urgent by exciting Ireland
We had a great time, even though we sat next to a rugby bore, who tutted every time the crowd stood up and stopped my kid waving her Wales flag.
And, of course, Wales lost. It is often said that good teams always find a way to win when they are playing badly. Wales have reversed that maxim and seem more often inclined to find a way to lose when they are playing well.
Next up for the Aussies are England, who are a different beast entirely, particularly now they march out under the murderous gaze of Eddie Jones. As England showed against Argentina, they usually have the knack of grinding out wins, even if they don’t look great in the process.
The English crowd have a strikingly low tolerance for this, perhaps remembering that tickets these days can set you back £130 each.
Well, when you’re paying nearly two quid a minute, I guess it becomes harder to sympathise with Henry Slade’s need for a couple of games to find his feet. Perhaps one of the reasons Jones’s fit of the conniptions made so much headway on social media was that he seemed to embody the sentiments too often felt at Twickenham over the years.
Jones’s ability to deliver win after win is only part of the story of his brilliant tenure thus far. What has also won him so much favour among fans is that he knows England should be the New Zealand of the north.
His task is made more urgent by the one team that has done everything right this autumn (and who blemished Jones’s perfect record back in the Six Nations). Ireland smashed South Africa 38-3 in Dublin with a performance full of entertainment, excellence and the promise of youth.
This reminds me that I have an Irish grandmother: it’s too late for me to defect, but I suppose the chance is still open to my daughter.
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