England v Australia: Winners and losers as Joseph Suaalii and super-sub play ‘significant role’ for Wallabies in ‘painful watch’ for Joe El-Abd
Marcus Smith had a solid game in defeat for England against the Wallabies.
Following a thrilling 42-37 win for the Wallabies over England in the Autumn Nations Series, we pick out our winners and losers from the game at Allianz Stadium.
Winners
Joseph Suaalii
Talk about announcing yourself on the rugby union stage. The weight of his hefty salary seemingly does not hinder Suaalii in the air as he dominated the Twickenham sky on Saturday in a stunning debut performance that rightly saw him pick up the Player of the Match award.
The former rugby league man was outstanding with and without the ball as he demonstrated his skill-set all afternoon, showing no signs of nerves on the big occasion. Joe Schmidt and Rugby Australia have got themselves a gem and if this is his first game we can’t wait for more.
Tate McDermott
Thrust into the action on the stroke of half-time due to Jake Gordon being sent to the blood-bin, McDermott was excellent at the base and played a significant role in the Wallabies’ first victory over the English at Twickenham since that famous win at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
McDermott provided a threat around the fringes of the ruck and the second of his two snipes in quick succession led to Harry Wilson’s try. The Reds scrum-half certainly put his hand up to head coach Schmidt that he is a must-pick moving forward as his impact was sizeable.
Wallabies back-row
Hats off to Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight and Wilson, who each could easily have had their own name up in lights here after superb efforts.
This hard-working trio were everywhere on the field as they racked up the numbers in terms of carries, tackles and defenders beaten. Wilson has finally nailed down the Wallabies number eight jersey after a long period knocking on the door while his flankers dominated the physical and were tireless at Twickenham on Saturday, with McReight especially being a nuisance to England, who missed the presence of Tom Curry.
Marcus Smith
A wonderful performance and unlucky to find himself on the losing side, Smith oozed class as he starred first at fly-half and then full-back.
Steve Borthwick would have been a brave man to replace Smith for the second week in succession as he was playing a different game to his team-mates at times, with smart kicks in behind, evasive skills and slick distribution always keeping the Wallabies guessing on Saturday.
Wallabies locks
Much like their back-row colleagues, the Wallabies second-rows were equally impressive as Jeremy Williams and Nick Frost deserve praise.
Both are skillful locks with ball in hand and that was evident today, with Williams rewarded with a well-taken try while Frost put in a shift.
Angus Bell
It’s fantastic to see the prop back to full fitness and on the international stage after such a torrid time with injury and he was sorely missed.
The Wallabies are a different team up front with Bell at the peak of his powers and he was outstanding at HQ, bouncing off English tacklers and offloading to good effect. Schmidt simply has to keep the loosehead fit if they are to continue their progress and today was proof of that.
Ollie Sleightholme
Took his chance after the departure of Immanuel Feyi-Wabosi as the Northampton Saints wing showed how lethal he is when given a sniff.
A brace of tries should give him decent weight to ask the question of Borthwick, with a possible start against the Springboks now coming?
Noah Lolesio
It’s always pleasing to see players answer their critics, especially when they’ve been unceremoniously frozen out of their international side.
Lolesio has certainly showed that he belongs at this level and this showing that saw him contribute 13 points will have pleased him greatly.
Chandler Cunningham-South
A start that he would have been dreaming about last night but unfortunately his two tries in the opening 12 minutes did not result in a win.
Cunningham-South came out firing, as did England, with a well-taken brace and despite the hosts falling short, the flank keeps a spot here.
Losers
Steve Borthwick
A fifth loss in their last six games does not make for pretty reading for Borthwick as England once again fell to a narrow defeat at Test level.
Unfortunately these close losses bring the inevitable questions from the media and the coach will know the only way to stop them is to get over the finish line with their noses in front. It doesn’t get any easier next weekend either with the Springboks in town at Allianz Stadium.
Tom Curry
The England flanker seemingly can’t catch a break in terms of injuries. Just as he was enjoying a decent run back at international level, the Sale back-row was forced off the field in the first half after being knocked unconscious whilst making a tackle on Wallabies flanker Valetini.
Joe El-Abd
Leading on from the Borthwick section it will have been a painful watch for defence coach El-Abd too as England shipped 42 points today.
England were frighteningly open in midfield as the Wallabies cantered through with ease, scoring five tries as they feasted on a disjointed defence that made life so easy for the likes of McDermott and co. to pick off. Lessons have to be learned or South Africa will punish them.
Lukhan Salakai-Loto
A lucky lock. Salakai-Loto could easily have been issued a card after a clumsy collision that saw him make contact with Sleightholme’s head.
Fortunately for the Wallabies it was deemed a penalty only by the officials and they kept all 15 players on the field, which was key in the end.
England’s midfield
Coming back to those defensive issues and it was an especially poor day at the office for Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence as they came off a distant second best to their direct rivals Len Ikitau and Suaalii, with the Wallabies pair and their team-mates having ample joy in midfield.
The positional shift for today’s match appeared to be bearing fruit early on, but thereafter the duo struggled to fire a shot and Lawrence will obviously be disappointed with his drop that led to Andrew Kellaway’s late try. Do England persist with this combination or look elsewhere?
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
Harsh maybe after he was withdrawn twice due to injury during the Test, but it was a good distance below his showing against the All Blacks.
At times Feyi-Waboso looked somewhat lost in attack and while credit must go to his brave defensive effort as he attempted to stop Williams from scoring, it was a disappointing day at the office that could well see Sleightholme take his jersey for the fixture against the Springboks.
