Australia entered the match as favourites and built a 10-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes but England’s fightback turned the Suncorp Stadium showdown on its head.
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“We’re lucky, we’ve got a very good referee on the weekend (in Craig Joubert) and he’s one of the most respected referees in the world …”
Simmons and Horne were both forced off in the first half but travelled to Melbourne and will undergo testing during the week.
More brilliance from Ford played in Jack Nowell, who made no mistake in the left corner to give the English the ideal series start. “It makes it hard to get the speed of the game going when you get so many penalties”.
England’s Matt Mullan (R) hugs team mate Paul Hill after their win against Australia’s Wallabies.
“This is the first Test they’ve played with expectations on them and knowing Cheik (Wallabies coach Michael Cheika), we know what their team is going to come out and do – we know they’re going to be absolutely breathing fire”. “I am sure they are all going to be lining up”, Jones said.
“So let’s not beat around the bush, we know how it works here and everyone is entitled to their opinion”.
Burrell’s defence had been exposed on one occasion and the tactical shift proved a masterstroke as Ford was superb and set up two tries.
Hoiles, who was given his global debut when Jones coached Australia, had said: “You seem to be in the press a bit more than Donald Trump this week”.
But Jones believed his team were fighting a battle off the field as well.
England, though, remain wary of their hosts, with Jones insisting his players will have to perform better than they did in Brisbane. “We have all played a game and we can look at video of each other”.
“We’re happy with the result but we didn’t play well today”, the England coach told reporters.
In a trailer shown repeatedly in the build-up to the first Test, pundits including Tim Horan and Phil Kearns mockingly highlighted past English failures, including last year’s early exit at the World Cup.
Then there was the skills of Ford, whose long pass off his left hand created a try for Yarde after a side-stepping charge by James Haskell, while his chip for Nowell’s try at the death was perfectly struck. He was physically good.
“There’s options that have got experience in the front row, so we’re fortunate there but at the same time disappointed to lose a player of David’s quality”.
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Every public utterance from coach Eddie Jones is, of course, made with an eye on the media agenda so after the match he talked about how badly England had performed and how improvement would be necessary for next Saturday’s Melbourne test.
