Problems old and new plague England to raise questions about future

Another week, another heartbreak for England and now serious questions must be asked about the direction of the Steve Borthwick project. A flawed Australia side exposed familiar failings and shone a light on some new ones for good measure in a helter-skelter thriller of an Autumn Nations Series Test match.
Whereas last week ended with George Ford missing a penalty and drop goal as the All Blacks celebrated, this clash ended with Max Jorgensen streaking clear down the left wing, arm aloft to snatch a 42-37 victory for the Wallabies in a game that England won, then lost, then won again before somehow finally losing.
The hosts scored 12 points early on at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, found themselves trailing by 10 early in the second half and the lead then changed hands multiple times in the last 10 minutes. But, ultimately, Borthwick’s men wilted in the final stages of a Test match on a day when they simply couldn’t afford another narrow defeat but fell to one anyway.
Perhaps it was always destined to come down to the wire, given that now just two of England’s last 14 Tests have been decided by more than a single score, but by any objective measure, they really should be beating this version of Australia, especially on home turf.
The same flaw – an inability to see games out at the death – keeps appearing and now there will also be serious questions about a defence that was continually breached by a relentless Australian attack. Defence has been one of the consistent bright spots over the past 12 months but it was found wanting on a day that could prove to be very damaging for English rugby.
In addition to concerns about their ability to finish games off, England have also been criticised for the failure of their attack to score enough points to consistently win Test matches. To their credit, they seemed to try a new approach at Twickenham – eschewing any semblance of kicking game to control things and instead trusting their ball-carriers.
This was rewarded with a pair of tries by Chandler Cunningham-South to build a quick 12-3 lead but the frantic nature of the game also allowed an Australia team lacking cohesion and structure early in the Joe Schmidt era to stay in the game.
They may not be polished but this version of the Wallabies proved they have the athletic, instinctive players to take advantage in the broken field and they opportunistically attacked both the breakdown and the gaping holes in the England line to keep pace in terms of tries.
Exciting 21-year-old Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii – the Australian Rugby Union’s prize £2.4m capture from rugby league, remarkably playing his first-ever professional game of rugby union – led the way as a leaping, offloading, hard-running blur in the centres. He created one try and was consistently involved as the Wallabies hit back to build a 28-18 lead with 25 minutes remaining.
England did have their own maestro, as Marcus Smith used the less-structured gameplan to flash his individual brilliance, not only creating both of Cunningham-South’s scores but spearheading the comeback with another assist for the first of Ollie Sleightholme’s crucial two tries.
It was telling that when Steve Borthwick once again called on George Ford from the bench with 18 minutes left, this time it was full-back George Furbank sacrificed as Smith switched from fly-half to the 15 role. Perhaps it was an acknowledgement that he got things wrong a week ago against the All Blacks by taking off the Harlequins star for Ford but even if not, it sent a clear message about Smith’s importance. He also retained kicking duties, slotting a tricky conversion to push the hosts back ahead 30-28 entering the final 10 minutes.
Yet the drama was only just beginning as Kellaway seized on an errant Ford pass at halfway to race away for the try that put the Wallabies back on top before Maro Itoje burrowed over to seemingly seal an England win, only for Jorgensen’s effort with the clock in the red to crush the capacity crowd at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.
England had been impressively clinical early on, with powerhouse back-rower Cunningham-South twice the beneficiary of Smith’s creativity in the 10 channel. First, Ollie Lawrence chased down Smith’s clever grubber kick before Ellis Genge, Jamie George and Tom Curry all showed slick hands to get the ball wide for Cunningham-South to finish.
Smith’s dummy and arcing surge through the defensive line then brought England towards the Wallaby line once more and Genge’s quick tap-and-go penalty saw him feed Cunningham-South to barrel over again. His celebration, copying the “shiver” pose made famous by Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, seemed fitting given England’s sudden ice-cool demeanour in attack.
But the Wallabies were showing attacking verve of their own to exploit England’s suddenly apparent defensive deficiencies. Ultra-quick, almost frantic ball through the hands, even at the expense of precision of the pass repeatedly gave them space out wide and they first crossed the whitewash when Suaalii produced a no-look offload to create a score for Tom Wright.
The intensity of the Australian pick-and-go at the base of the ruck was also causing problems and replacement scrum-half Tate McDermott dummied and sniped through a gap before offloading to his skipper Harry Wilson for a second try that helped the Wallabies hit back to lead 20-18 at the break.
That lead stretched to 10 points thanks to a penalty and Jeremy Williams acrobatically finishing in the corner after a short lineout routine but replacement Sleightholme dotted down a precise Smith grubber kick to narrow the gap and the winger was then released by an Alex Dombrandt pass before Smith’s extras put the hosts up by two.
Seven days on from his All Blacks horror show, Ford again was at fault when a pass went behind Lawrence and Kellaway picked up the loose ball on halfway and showed just enough gas to reach the line.
Relentless work in the 22 ended with Itoje finding a way over the line and Twickenham celebrated what seemed like a narrow escape but one final set of quick Australian hands, ending with a flicked offload from Len Ikitau to send Jorgensen clear hammered a nail into England’s hopes with the clock in the red.
It was a thrilling Test match but a combination of problems old and new beg the question of exactly where England go from here.