England - Winners!!!!!

[bibblebub]

We can win at some sports - we've just beaten the Aussies 20-21 in the Rugby Union test.

A welcome bit of good sports news at a depressing time (sports-wise)?

[kayakamina]

A very good win. The best England performance for a long time.

[bibblebub]

It wasn't long ago that Australia used to thrash us every time; have they got worse or are we on a roll at present?

I did hear somewhere that Australian rugby union was struggling to compete against other sports such as League and Rules, which, if true, could mean that it will finally be our turn for a bit of dominance; but I don't know if there is any basis to that or not.

[kayakamina]

That was England's first win in Australia since 2003 World Cup and the Northern Hemisphere's first in 26 games against the big three Southern countries.

It is correct to say that the Australian pool of players is spread very thin with League & Aussie Rules more popular than Union.
Before we get carried away though you have to remember that South Africa are World & Trinations champions and New Zealand not far behind.

Even so an encouraging improvement and we have a class no 9 in Younges.

[EGTB]

Brilliant Result and as you say hopefully time for England to rise to the top again.

I watched the Australia v England U20 World cup match the other day which Australia won 28-16 and some of their young players were very creative and I think that they'll still be giving us trouble in a few years
Freddie Burns looked like another good emerging no10 for us for the future.

[rowanwitch]

would be even better if Toby Flood brought his kicking boots and even JW was off target still great to have something to celebrate

[bibblebub]

shame there's not another test against the Aussies to really rub their noses in it

[rowanwitch]

We do love beating the Aussies ...never feels the same beating New Zealand..even though they are usually harder to beat . I think it because Aus are so smug,

[kayakamina]

Don't mention kicking to the Aussies - how on earth did Giteau miss from right in front?

A miss of Don Fox proportions!

[sarumite]

Agreed, it was a very encouraging result, especially after the lacklustre display of the previous week.

As kayakamina said, a class display from the new scrum half ... and hopefully this will encourage the selection of more promising young players prior to the next world cup.

However, we now need to consolidate on this performance and hopefully prove it wasn't just a "one off!"

[bibblebub]

But they are also so good at winning in various sports so often that they can afford to be smug.