England should be quite satisfied with their performance, but Stuart Lancaster will know that if his team start as poorly against Australia as they did against Fiji they could be in big trouble.
In the first 20 minutes on Saturday, their skill levels were down. The passing lacked accuracy. They will have to improve for this next game or they will be punished.
After being thrashed by France, Australia will be determined to front up physically at Twickenham and prove that was just a blip. But if England can blitz them early on and gain the upper hand, then they can create doubt in the Wallabies’ minds. Hit them hard from the first minute and they could be on their knees very quickly, so Lancaster’s side have to start so much better or they will miss the chance to harness that psychological advantage.
Rising high: England lock Geoff Parling (centre) jumps to catch the ball during a lineout against FijiTom Youngs had a fantastic debut on Saturday. There had been so much focus on his line-out throwing but that was 100 per cent accurate. He settled really well, was destructive as a carrier around the field and will take real confidence from that performance.
England’s scrum and line-out drives were good and that allowed them to shorten Fiji’s defensive line and attack around the outside. Danny Care really geed up the players around him and kept his team attacking on the front foot. He was unlucky with the yellow card and really looked like he was trying to put down a marker. He put real pace on the game.
Charlie Sharples did really well on the wing, so Lancaster has a selection dilemma now, with Chris Ashton back in contention. If it comes down to a straight choice between him and Sharples on the right, I would start Sharples and put Ashton on the bench. The coaches would have the excuse that, after missing a game, Ashton has to force his way back in.
Injection of pace: England scrum-half Danny Care (second left) got his forwards geed up and his backs goingThey can’t drop Sharples after that display. I’m not saying he is suddenly England’s No 1 winger, but he deserves to carry on and it would make Ashton hungry to claim his place back. They might both end up starting, as Ugo Monye didn’t have a bad game but he threw a loose pass which led to Fiji’s first try, so that could count against him.
Having had the good fortune to play Fiji first up in a game that effectively acted as a training run, there’s no point ruining the benefit by chopping and changing too much. I don’t think the guys trying to get back into the team are necessarily far better than those who started against Fiji anyway. For instance, at loosehead prop, it is now a close call between Joe Marler and Alex Corbisiero.
Whatever line-up Lancaster sends out next weekend, they have to start well — that is the key to building on this encouraging win.
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