Eddie Jones’ England must give it a real rip if spirit of 2016 is to be revived

One by one the traditional pillars of shared Anglo-Australian culture are slipping away. Dame Edna Everage has long since hung up her frocks and the final episode of Neighbours is due to be aired on 1 August. Almost the last of the old-school entertainers still working the room is Eddie Jones, back on familiar soil and as keen as ever to enjoy his farewell Test series as England’s head coach.

With no July tours scheduled next year before the Rugby World Cup and every chance of one-off, home-and-away Tests in a Nations League format becoming the future norm, the looming three-Test contest may prove to be the last of its type played by any England team in Australia. The constantly rolling narrative and competitive ebb and flow have played such a pivotal role in rugby’s heritage that the alternative had better be good.

All of which is further sharpening the appetite on both sides with the newly minted Ella-Mobbs Cup – formerly the Cook Cup – at stake. Last time England were in Australia, in 2016, their convincing 3-0 victory was among the finer achievements of Jones’s tenure. Having just won a Six Nations grand slam, England were consistently up for the fight in all regards. As he bluntly put it in his autobiography: “I’m an Australian and so I know you’ve got to stand up to the Aussies. You’ve got to bully the bully. That’s the only way you get on top of them.”

It possibly explains why England have won all eight of their Tests against Australia under his stewardship. Outback droughts have to end some time, though, and this time around the Wallabies could be in a better place than the visitors. If the Rugby Football Union felt there was “solid progress” made in this year’s Six Nations, it was not always obvious and the less