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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Angus Fontaine

Dave Rennie and his Wallabies must deliver on home soil against England

Lachie Swinton (left) is expected to press his claim for a spot in Australia’s squad to face England alongside captain Michael Hooper and Lalakai Foketi.
Lachie Swinton (left) is expected to press his claim for a spot in Australia’s squad to face England alongside captain Michael Hooper and Lalakai Foketi. Photograph: Matt King/Getty Images

There is something in the air at Rugby HQ and for once it isn’t panic. It smells, dangerously, like hope. The Australia-England three-Test series is less than a month away and Eddie Jones’s side are coming off another dud Six Nations tournament (two wins, three defeats). The coach is facing widespread calls to be sacked and his squad is missing powerhouse centres Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade to injury.

That’s quite a bit of blood in the water. But will Dave Rennie’s team have the teeth to rip in and win? Although the Wallabies won five straight last season against South Africa, Japan and Argentina, the Bledisloe was lost again. It left Rennie stuck on an uninspiring 40% win record from 20 Tests. That’s not good enough. The Wallabies must win, win more often and do so with style and steel.

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