An almost perfectly balanced tour, you might say. England left Auckland last night with two wins, two defeats and a draw from their five-match visit to Australasia. They shared the international series with Australia 1-1, scored 109 points and conceded 119 and produced ten tries against 12 conceded. Not that much difference between them and their southern-hemisphere hosts, then.
The value of the exercise, however, has been as much in the head as in the record books. Any international success in the southern hemisphere is to be prized, whatever the perceived weakness of the opposition (in this case Australia’s scrum), so England go home feeling happy with one win and frustrated that it was not two. The one-point success in Sydney is a reminder of how slim the margins remain.
So they have a stronger belief that they can compete with the southern-hemisphere teams on their own soil and need to remember that when the Sanzar countries play at Twickenham in November. On the evidence available, a likely starting XV would be: Ben Foden; Mark Cueto, Mike Tindall, Shontayne Hape, Chris Ashton; Toby Flood, Ben Youngs; Tim Payne, Steve Thompson, Dan Cole, Courtney Lawes, Tom Palmer, Tom Croft, Lewis Moody, Nick Easter.
Were Andrew Sheridan to prove his recovery from a damaged shoulder, he might oust Payne at loose-head prop and if Tom Rees put together a string of significant performances for London Wasps, he would be a serious threat to Moody, as open-side flanker and captain. But this tour has not given England the cutting edge they need from midfield nor thrown up a serious challenger to Easter at No 8.
For all the plus points — the emergence of Dave Attwood as a serious contender at lock, the youthful confidence and skill of Youngs and Lawes, the hard work of Paul Doran-Jones, Geoff Parling, Dan Ward-Smith and Chris Robshaw — there were some serious negatives. It is hard to imagine Martin Johnson choosing Delon Armitage, Mathew Tait or Shane Geraghty in the elite player squad to be announced on July 1, based on their displays Down Under, although Geraghty would argue, with some justification, that he was not given the chance to start, a situation he has found himself in for Northampton too frequently.
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We may not see Joe Worsley or Simon Shaw again at this level, Steffon Armitage has struggled to make an impact and Ugo Monye was affected by injury just when Johnson wanted a wing to emerge to challenge Cueto.
Nor did James Haskell create as much as Johnson would have wished for a player who should have an international future at No 8 or blind-side flanker, while Steve Borthwick, the erstwhile captain left at home, has seen Attwood and Parling make progress at his expense.
Then there are the in-betweens. Against New Zealand Maori yesterday, Brad Barritt showed the kind of touch at centre that should win a place in the elite squad and Phil Dowson needs more exposure to that kind of game. Rob Webber was crying out for more game time — he did not start, either — but as the hooking position stands, George Chuter not only replaced the injured Dylan Hartley, he reinstated himself in the pecking order, behind Thompson but ahead of Lee Mears (a Lions player a year ago) and possibly of Hartley himself.
England wanted to see more of Dominic Waldouck, Jon Golding and Hendre Fourie, but injury denied Johnson that chance. As a party, every player deserves credit for sustaining so great an effort at the end of the long domestic season, for learning so quickly how to cope with Australian conditions, if not the power and offloading skills of the Maori at the death. It was instructive, too, to hear Ashton’s reaction: “I started this tour knowing hardly anyone, now I’m going home with 39 new mates”, which has that innocent charm that is also at the heart of any successful squad.
“There was some scepticism about the value we would get out of this,” Johnson, the team manager, said. “But the experience has been great for players and coaches. Lots of guys have come through, they will benefit hugely from the experience. International rugby is brutal and if you don’t do your job, you’ll be exposed.” That happened against Australia in Perth and, to a degree, in Napier yesterday but Johnson will press for similar tours in the future. “There have been learning points for everyone, that’s what we came for,” he said.
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But the lessons have to be assimilated quickly because the World Cup clock is ticking loudly. This autumn and next spring England have to demonstrate against the five countries above them in the IRB rankings — as well as four more below — that they have become, once more, a force to be reckoned with rather than still in the green shoots of recovery.
Plus points Growing depth at prop and lock: Dan Cole has become one of the first names on the team-sheet in a year, Paul Doran-Jones has made giant strides and the stockpile of second rows, unnaturally thin for a couple of years, is on the rise. Dave Attwood should win a cap in the autumn and Courtney Lawes confirmed all the good opinions he attracted at home.
Competition at scrum half Just because Ben Youngs has gone past Danny Care does not make him an automatic selection and his form will be scrutinised closely, along with Joe Simpson, who would have toured but for injury. Care has the character to fight back, Micky Young at Newcastle Falcons is on the radar and this is just the situation England want.
Pressing concerns The midfield: a complementary centre pairing is no nearer resolution. Shontayne Hape showed in Sydney why Martin Johnson insisted on playing him at inside centre but without nailing down the shirt. If Riki Flutey recovers his 2009 form with London Wasps, he remains a contender and Saracens will strive to give Brad Barritt a strong platform.
Full back: Ben Foden stands alone. Like Flutey, if Delon Armitage could go back to 2009, he would be there but he did not show that quality on tour. Johnson will be eager to hear how Alex Goode fared with the Saxons during the Churchill Cup.