England beat an error-prone Australia to win their July series 2-1 on Saturday, a second success for northern hemisphere rugby after Ireland’s earlier triumph over the All Blacks; Eddie Jones likes what he saw from his young side; try-scorer Marcus Smith revels in dream success
Last Updated: 16/07/22 2:30pm
England’s Marcus Smith runs clear to score a crucial try
England coach Eddie Jones believes his young side are heading in the right direction ahead of next year’s World Cup, with a series win over Australia a huge boost.
Rookies Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman and Marcus Smith starred as England dug deep to complete a series victory over the Wallabies with a 21-17 win in the third Test at Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
Australia won the opening test 30-28 in Perth but England struck back with a 25-17 victory in Brisbane to take the series to Saturday’s decider before Jones masterminded a second series success over his own country after their 3-0 sweep in 2016.
“We weren’t at our best in this Test, but we kept fighting and we kept in the game, particularly the defence of our finishers at the end was outstanding and that got us the result,” Jones told Sky Sports. “We were just a little bit off, but we kept fighting and it was a great effort by the leaders.
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Highlights of the third and final Test between Australia and England, in Sydney.
“It’s a really positive step. We’ve always felt the team is going in the right direction. Sometimes the results don’t reflect that. At the end of the game we had six players with under 10 caps, so it is an inexperienced squad, who will really benefit from an experience like this.
“They understand how hard they have to fight to win a Test match away from home. Some of our guys have now won two series away in Australia. I am so proud of their efforts. We are in a good position (ahead of next year’s World Cup). We have just got to slowly, slowly keep improving. We want to be at our best by next October.”
The manner of the series win for England, where they had to come from behind to clinch the success, was particularly pleasing for fly-half Smith.
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Marcus Smith scored a superb try out of nowhere as he capitalised on a Noah Lolesio error, picked up the ball, spun and ran from the halfway line.
“We were dreaming about this four weeks ago, it didn’t quite go to plan in the first game and we had a long, hard look at ourselves as a group,” he said.
“I think it really tested our resilience as a group. It’s a young group and the senior boys led it and said ‘lads, we’ve got to believe’.
“I thought we built nicely in the second game and today was good as well.”
Australia had the better of the first half, with some bright running, but still managed to head back to the dressing room 11-10 down.
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England player Courtney Lawes reflects on their Test win over Australia and says that he was motivated by the ‘smack’ they were talking about his team.
England dug in after the break, showing the same sort of physicality they had in Brisbane, with a third Owen Farrell penalty and an opportunist try from Smith giving them a 21-10 lead, one they held on to having given everything.
“That was tough,” captain Courtney Lawes said. “I’m properly spent.
“I think it really showed what it means for us to play for this team. We had a tough start to this match and series, but we showed what we’re made of.
“We did what we said we wanted to which was improve week on week. This game was a tough battle, but you learn a lot every week – even when you win.”