International Second Test Preview: Australia Vs. England
International Second Test Preview: Australia Vs. England
England will try to stop a three-match losing streak in their second test against Australia.
In the first match of the three-match test series, Australia thwarted an English comeback attempt. In match two, England will do their best to take one back from the Wallabies.
Here's everything you need to know about the July 9 match between Australia and England.
Where: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, Australia
The lowdown: Twelve years after Australia last beat England in the Land Down Under, the Wallabies finally were able to celebrate victory over the English in front of a home crowd.
Ridding itself of the demons from prior matchups with the English, such as England's 2016 three-game sweep in Australia and their eight straight tests against them won overall, the Wallabies overcame injuries and a first-half red card from lock Darcy Swain to stun the English on Saturday at Perth Stadium, 30-28.
A trio of tries in the final quarter from Jordan Petaia, Folau Fainga'a and Pete Samu saw the Wallabies go up 30-14 with just minutes to play, and though the English did score twice in three minutes in a furious comeback attempt, Australia held on until the final siren commenced.
Celebrations in the Aussie camp were well-earned, but the tricky part will be repeating the feat next weekend in Brisbane, especially as fly-half Quade Cooper, fullback Tom Banks and prop Allan Alaalatoa all left Saturday's match due to injury.
However, the three-match losing run England coach Eddie Jones is on (not counting the 52-21 defeat to the Barbarians last month) is his longest since a five-match stretch of defeats in 2018, with the 2019 Rugby World Cup runners-up needing a strong bounce-back performance in Brisbane to restore confidence.
Being largely dominated by a 14-man Australia is not the main memory from this tour the English want to bring home, particularly as preparations for next year's Rugby World Cup in France are slowly getting into full gear.