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Sports Blog 06/06/2016: Rugby Union Preview – England vs Australia Summer Tour, Saturday 11th, 18th & 25th June 2016
Of course England have already gone someway to dispelling the host-howler that was the 2015 World Cup. Since Eddie Jones was appointed in the aftermath of England’s truncated appearance at that competition the side have looked revitalised, sweeping to their first Six Nations title since 2011 (and first Grand Slam since their epoch-defining 2003).
Heading to Oz the most eye-catching squad selection was the New Zealand-born Ben Te’o who, thanks to an English mother and a summer move to Worcester Warriors from Leinster, recently became eligible. He may be granted a debut in the 1st test, with many assuming his presence would see George Ford (who scored a measly 1 conversion from England’s 5 tries against Wales in their pre-series warm-up) swapped for Owen Farrell.
Yet for all their improvement since the New Year England face an uphill battle in Oz. Already it hasn’t been a happy-homecoming for Jones, who claimed that he was unnecessarily ‘shunted’ into the bag check area of Brisbane airport by immigration last Thursday as part of a ‘co-ordinated’ attempt to unsettle the side and ensure everything went in the Aussies’ favour.
Beyond this arguably spurious line of thinking, however, there are more concrete reasons why Jones should be concerned. The last time the 2 sides met the Aussies dealt England a World Cup-ending 33-13 defeat at Twickenham, and even this Jones-ified squad may struggle to break a run that has seen England beat Australia on the latter’s home turf a mere 3 times, the last being back in 2010.
Our Spreadex traders don’t seem too hopeful of that trend changing this time around, offering an Australia/England Series Supremacy spread of 5-10 alongside an Australia/England Points Supremacy spread for the first test in Brisbane on Saturday.
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