By Harrison Clifford
Twickenham (Allianz Stadium). A fortress for English rugby. Most recently seeming like a graveyard to broken memories of what was once a World Cup winning nation. An unsuccessful home fixture against the All Blacks left a bad taste in the mouths of fans, even with the likes of Will Greenwood taking to social media for an emotional rant.
But the second fixture of the Autumn internationals gave us hope; it was the reason I spent almost £280 on tickets to see the Red Rose take on the Wallabies. Dad and I arrived at Twickenham, now the Allianz Stadium, after a three hour coach journey. We’re the first ones off the coach and see the sea of white and gold jerseys in the streets.
We headed straight into the stadium, only our second time there; still feeling like kids with excitement, it almost made it excuse the £15 for two pints…almost! We found our seats, got a photo taken in front of the sticks, and drank about 3 more pints each before we got to kick off.
The teams took to the field. The gleaming white kits lined up, along with the orange figures, and we gave our minute of silence, followed swiftly by the national anthems. I’ve never felt of a sense of unity or pride whilst singing the national anthem before, but today was different.
10 minutes past three was the kick off time, and England made a sensational start within the first 15, scoring two try’s. Everyone felt comfortable, and today would be a day for building Englands confidence. Joe Schmidt’s Australian Wallabies had a different idea for English fans.
They bounced back in the second part of the first half, entering the tunnel with a two point lead. ‘Stunned’ is probably the best word to describe the atmosphere at the Allianz. The once global superpower, now the butt end of many jokes of the Southern Hemisphere. Australia came to prove a point – they had more of a point to prove than the home side.
Not making it out of the group stages in the World Cup, coming last in the Rugby Championship, they had to do something. We’d hopped the second half would be a different story. Australia dampened the English hope with scoring another try within ten minutes of the second half.
Remember how great George Ford was? Remember how fans rejoiced at the sight of the man when he took to the field? Neither did the fans that night. When it was seen he was being subbed on, a sea of ‘booes’ was echoed throughout the stadium. The memory of the New Zealand loss hit everyone like a slap in the face, with how England suddenly lost momentum it seemed like history would repeat itself.
The saving grace for the red rose came in the form of Ollie Sleightholme. Scoring twice for the home side, we regained the momentum, and “swing low sweet chariot” echoed through the stadium. Life came back into the fans, and we were once again behind the players. It wasn’t a graveyard, it was a game again!
Fans upset for Ford was justified when he missed a pass, led to a dropped ball which was collected by Australia. The Wallabies then comfortably scored a breakaway try to take the lead once again.
Feelings were flat again, with only five minutes left of game time, we couldn’t believe Australia were going to win. However, when we were down, a miracle happened. Itoje scored, Smith converted, and we were 2 points in the lead with only one minute to go. The relieve was sensational, the crowd relaxed, the Australian fans happy with their teams performance, it was a good end to a stressful day.
Dad was ready to head off saying “it’s the end of the game”, so, if you believe in superstition, you can blame him for what happened next. All England needed to do was retain possession from kick off and get it out of the pitch. But no. Australia get possession from the kick off, and two minutes into the red, England’s standards dropped in defence.
The Wallabies ran to the end, and scored down in the corner. Ending their losing streak, Joe Schmidt made a statement at Twickenham, and Steve Borthwick is yet to do so. Dad and I got some food, and made our way back to the coach. He and I differ on opinion of the game. He believes it was a good game despite the loss, I’m of the opinion we’re better than the performance that was shown. We slept most of the journey back home.
I bought the tickets for Dad’s birthday and wanted him to have some memories of a sport that brings us closer together. It’s just a shame that it was a loss. I think that’s what ruined my mood, but I hope he enjoyed himself. England Rugby should be a phrase that shakes fear into the hearts of all other nations, but after that result we’ve dropped to seventh in the world rankings.
It’s hard to get behind Borthwick’s England squad when the results are never what you want to see. With South Africa coming up its hard to see a positive outcome in the future.
