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Jamie George has urged England to be bold when they face Australia at Allianz Stadium with the ambition of kick-starting their autumn campaign.
Steve Borthwick’s side are determined to bounce back from an agonising run of three consecutive narrow defeats to New Zealand, including the 24-22 last-gasp loss that opened the month’s programme of four Tests.
A victory over the Wallabies, who have given a debut to rugby league superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, would ignite the Autumn Nations Series ahead of a grudge match against South Africa seven days later.
England have been guilty of throwing away commanding positions when in the final quarter against top four opposition – and their captain wants that habit to end.
“We want play with courage, be brave, take teams on and never sit back. The challenge is can we do that for 80 minutes?” George said.
“There’s a fine line between being relentless and almost reckless. We’re very clear about how we want to go about things. The more time that we spend together, the better we’re going to get. Whoever we’re playing, we want to take them on.
“We have got to focus on being clinical and executing the game plan. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves. If you worry about expectation too much you start sitting back and being fearful of failure rather than going out there and taking teams on. We will take Australia on – that has been the message all week.”
George Ford missed with late penalty and drop-goal attempts as England threw away an eight-point lead against New Zealand, putting them in must-win territory for the rest of the autumn.
But George insists it was a step forward from the two losses against the All Blacks in July to provide encouragement over the team’s overall direction of travel.
“We took away from the series in New Zealand that we probably stopped attacking the opposition as much,” the Saracens hooker said.
“We sat back, waited and tried to see out the game. I don’t think we did that on Saturday so I think we’ve seen improvements.
“We didn’t win the game and so of course we’re looking to get better at certain bits, but I saw huge strides in the team and there’s a huge amount to be excited about from the fans’ point of view.
“Our intent to play and to continue to attack was there. There was a different mindset. But we lacked discipline and gave away too many penalties.”
England have won 10 out of their last 11 matches against Australia to rob the fixture of its competitive edge, but George insists the Wallabies remain formidable opponents under the guidance of former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt.
“It’s a massive rivalry, it’s historic. I respect what they’re doing. Joe Schmidt is a fantastic coach and is the perfect person to take Australia on over these next few years,” George said.
PA
