Hello and welcome to Telegraph Sport’s live coverage of this year’s England team’s announcement for the second test against Australia in Brisbane, with Eddie Jones to reveal his team at 7.15am BST.
Flanker Sam Underhill, who is poised to replace Tom Curry in the back row of England, believes the breakdown battle will be key to leveling the series.
The Wallabies, Michael Hooper, was the dominant figure in the hosts ’30-28 victory in the first test, and ruled the competition on the field, including a turnover that changed the game.
Underhill insists that dominating the breakdown will be key to ending England’s four-game losing streak.
“We controlled the areas of the game pretty well for a good part of the game, but in the end the penalties and discipline cost us,” Underhill said. “Whether the breakdown was more competitive than we thought or not, we did not adapt to the interpretation of the breakdown.
“You can’t have an attack without a working crash and vice versa; you can’t defend indefinitely, so the crash is a pretty good area to aim at if you want to stifle an attack.
“It’s always an area of mass containment, especially in rugby matches against teams from the southern hemisphere and especially Australia who work hard. If the breakdown is right, the rest becomes easier.
“Hooper is obviously a big threat of breakdown. It’s not a case of scoring him for a man, but as a team you’re very aware that if he’s around the breakdown he’s very likely to compete. You have to change -so soon because it’s good. above the ball “.
Curry was ruled out of the tour after suffering a concussion on the first test, his third blow to the head in the last six months. Underhill was sidelined for more than two months after suffering back-to-back concussions on both sides of Christmas. His empathy for his partner ‘Kamikaze Kid’ is mixed with concern for the growing size of the collisions.
“On a test level, Tom is a machine and I’m discouraged by him that his tour is over soon,” Underhill said. “Rugby is a more physical game than ever. There are great athletes who move really well and at Test level you don’t have much time to react. Shocks are faster.”