Australia: Tate McDermott hoping for a change of fortune against England

Last time the Red Rose came to the land down under McDermott was a teen and could do nothing but watch as Eddie Jones’ side stole victory from the trio of Test matches.

Six years on, England will return to Australia with the young scrum-half set to feature for his nation, now aged 23 and a regular feature for the Reds in Super Rugby.

Before the last series on Australian soil, the hosts were backed to win following their second-place finish in the Rugby World Cup the year before, but Eddie Jones engineered a clean sweep on his first three outings as head coach.

England were formidable opponents during their first outings under Jones, but McDermott reckons they should be feared even more so now.

“Coming off a pretty good World Cup in 2015, I guess Australia were favourites at home, but it just proves – this year especially – the English are class,” he told reporters.

“They’ve got a brilliant core playing squad, which are pretty similar to the guys they brought over here (in 2016), guys like (Owen) Farrell, (Maro) Itoje, (Ben) Youngs, even Marcus Smith.

“Obviously he (Smith) didn’t come over in 2016, but he’s a world-class player, and Eddie Jones is still there at the helm.

“Watching those games as a fan, obviously it’s disappointing losing all three, but at the same time, to see all the support that Australians showed, and also that the English showed up as well, it’s going to be a massive series and one that we’re really excited for.”

McDermott will be fighting for minutes with Nic White and Jake Gordon over the series as the Reds nine approaches his 16th senior cap for the Wallabies.

Now having found his feet with Dave Rennie’s outfit, the 23-year-old scrum-half will be hoping for extended playing time and a place in