England to Apply Lessons from Recent Losses in Upcoming Matches

Full-back George Furbank is set to maintain his position for England’s match against Australia. The Autumn Nations Series fixture between England and Australia will take place at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, on Saturday, 9 November, with kick-off scheduled for 15:10 GMT. Live commentary will be available on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, while live text updates can be followed on the BBC Sport website and app. George Furbank, England’s full-back, stated that the team intends to “take their learnings” from a series of three narrow defeats against New Zealand as they prepare to confront Australia in the Autumn Nations Series. England relinquished their leading positions in all three encounters, first losing their two-match summer series in New Zealand, and then suffering a two-point home defeat to the All Blacks at Allianz Stadium last Saturday to open their autumn campaign. Additionally, Steve Borthwick’s squad was defeated 33-31 by France in their final Six Nations game this year, following a last-minute penalty from Thomas Ramos. Furbank, aged 28, indicated that England’s objective is to enhance their discipline and implement “better decisions” during the concluding phases of games. “Test rugby against the top sides is probably always going to come down to the last quarter but each match is different,” Furbank informed BBC Radio 5 Live. He continued, “There are learnings to take from last week and the big one for us was the amount of penalties we conceded in the final quarter. “We lost five, having conceded only a couple leading up to that.” Furbank emphasized, “It’s about being smart in that area to give you territory and close the game out. We have to be quicker at taking those learnings into games.” He added, “Ultimately you just want to make good decisions and not allow the opposition in.” Furbank also noted, “If we kept that ball better we could have got down in their half, but we gave New Zealand momentum again.” England boasts a strong record against Australia, having won 10 of their last 11 meetings, and will be considered favourites when the two teams renew their rivalry at Allianz Stadium this Saturday. Furbank expressed the hosts’ desire to exhibit the England “DNA” against Joe Schmidt’s Australian side, who have also experienced three consecutive Test losses. “We probably didn’t move the ball as well as we could have [against New Zealand] and we squandered a few opportunities, even before the last quarter,” Furbank further explained. He stressed, “We need to get that right but it’s about putting our DNA on the pitch, in the way we want to attack and defend.” Furbank concluded, “There might be opportunities to play through Australia or to go wide but it’s about being loaded on the pitch to be able to pull both triggers.” In their recent match against the All Blacks, England’s scrum dominated in the first half but lost its superiority after the interval. As the set-piece began to falter, England resorted to box-kicking in an effort to gain territory and push New Zealand back. George Ford’s late penalty and drop-goal attempts, which would have secured a victory and validated their strategy, were unsuccessful. However, Ugo Monye suggested that Borthwick’s team might be more effective by taking more risks in attack. “If England are not great at these close arm-wrestles, can we see if we can be great at playing a bit more and trying to score more tries?” former England wing Monye commented on BBC Rugby Union Weekly. Monye elaborated, “If England had won against New Zealand, because George Ford should have kicked that penalty, they would have got away with it. “But we didn’t have the scrum in the second half so maybe we need to chase tries. I reckon we would be better at that than trying to close out games.” England is scheduled to face world champions South Africa the weekend following their match against Australia. Monye attributed the Springboks’ efficiency in winning tight contests to their “weaponry.” South Africa defeated England by a single point in last year’s World Cup semi-final, subsequently claiming the trophy in the next game with an identical margin of victory over the All Blacks. Monye added, “South Africa are so brilliant at these arm wrestles because they have two weapons in generational players like [wingers] Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe who can do mental things. “But also, if they are nine points down in the rain they have the scrum and a line-out to win a penalty and then they have a close to 100% goal kicker in Handre Pollard.” He concluded, “So unless you have the weaponry, don’t bother.”