Little late to the party here...
But I did see a few things at the weekend which seem a little different
First off, never seen JVP play before, and the speed with which he flung the ball from the ruck was fantastic to see. A SH who just gets it out and says do what you want with that mate to his FH is invaluable at creating space, look who much better England's centres looked with actual time on the ball to make passes, best example is if Care/Youngs were passing (they have other strengths for sure, not slabbering at either overly) then the Marchant tip on pass that nearly set Arundell away for 2nd time doesnt happen
Arundell is enough said, but a very nice 5 minute cameo. Obviously wont be bouncing two players to score every week but he looks more polished than I originally thought
I actually thought Jonny Hill, barr the hair pulling, had a good game. He wasnt always on the forefront, but he looked much beter in the carry than this time last year, his clearouts were excellent, some good lineout and maul positions, he's come on quite markedly since his England debut
Itoje may have been quiet but didnt seem to help that for some reason Jones had him stationed out on the left wing in attack? Again I think ala Underhill and Lawes, and now Hill, his carrying has really developed, good footwork in contact and he can be very handy in the tight spaces. Might have seen more of him out there to be fair If england looked structured
Also Billy V looked a different beast to the man from a year ago. Slimmer, his step had real energy behind it, I liked what I saw. That Billy starts week in week out for England. ANd i say that really liking Alex Dombrandt
On the downsides, there seems to be a real slow learning from this England team, surely by now they have to realise their new out half actually runs with the ball, you dont see NZ leaving Barrett behind by just assuming a 10 doesnt run. GET WITH THE KID
This series for EJ will come down to the last game and if England can find some shape and confidence within it by then.. a 3-0 loss and he's likely gone, but more than anything people want to see the attack show some purpose. However defensively I thought England were so so poor at the weekend, minimal linespeed at times, and the worst was an inability to adapt their defensive patterns when Australia kept running through and o the fringes of the ruck to create quick ball and momentum.
