Australia v England: Five storylines to follow including the Marcus Smith-Owen Farrell axis and the Wallabies’ resurgence

The Red Rose have dominated this rivalry over the past few years, winning eight in a row, including a 3-0 whitewash the last time they toured down under.

In fact, they have not lost to the Wallabies with Eddie Jones in charge, but this is arguably Australia’s best chance to end that barren run.

Planet Rugby duly takes a look at five talking points ahead of the blockbuster series.

The Australian knows all about receiving criticism while England boss. In 2018, the Red Rose endured a wretched campaign where they finished in fifth position in the Six Nations and left some people questioning whether he was the right man to lead them into the World Cup. A year later, all that was forgotten as England reached the showpiece event, playing their best rugby since the glory years between 2001 and ‘03.

They were a genuine all-court team, who had a powerful pack and an electric backline, leading to them utterly dismantling New Zealand in the semi-finals. Since then, however, they have gradually declined. Even in 2020, when they won the Six Nations, it was not exactly convincing, before they regressed further in 2021 and 2022.

At the moment, unlike in 2019, it doesn’t look like things are changing anytime soon. The same issues of a stagnant attack, a mediocre set-piece and a lack of punch at the breakdown continues, while their defence, since the departure of John Mitchell, has shown real signs of creaking. Although you do, to a degree, have to ignore the Barbarians game, supporters will quite rightly be worried about how easily it was breached.

It means that Jones ultimately goes into this series under a lot of pressure. There is no doubt that he will keep his job until the World Cup but there needs to be progress over the next month