LONDON // The England manager Martin Johnson has plenty to work with when the players gather tomorrow after a performance against Australia where the few chinks of light were overshadowed by amateurish thinking and poor execution.
England were beaten 28-14 by a well-drilled Wallaby team who punished the hosts harshly for their misdemeanours by slotting seven of the eight kickable penalties they were offered.
Many of those offences were inexcusable and the former lock will no doubt read the riot act to ensure there is no repeat against the world champions South Africa next week.
Johnson will also be worried about England's lack of power in the pack, a concept unthinkable when the World Cup-winning skipper was in the trenches himself.
Andrew Sheridan, who almost single-handedly destroyed the Australian scrum on his debut in 2005 and again in last year's World Cup quarter-final, made no impact, while lock Steve Borthwick seems to be captain in name only after another failure in the "aura test".
Adding bite, menace and physicality are easier said than done but it is exactly that sort of leadership by example that Johnson, with no coaching experience, was brought in to provide.
What will be much tougher will be how he and his coaching team set about training the players to use the chances they do create, not a skill that can be passed on with a loud voice or stern look.
"We had the pace, there were lots of mismatches out there but we didn't see them or exploit them," Johnson said.
"The back three will be frustrated not to have got the ball when they had space but you've got to see those opportunities and doing it in the heat of the battle is what it's all about."
The attack coach Brian Smith must have been tearing his hair out as England wasted a series of opportunities by running straight and hard instead of looking wide. When they did, it was too often the forwards, twice in the form of the hooker Lee Mears, who ended up gunning for the corner with the inevitable result of being met by an Australian cover tackle.
Despite England's failure to attain their expected superiority in a messy scrum battle and with Australia bossing the line-out, they did manage to generate a huge amount of possession.
The home side were certainly not starved of possession. The match statistics show that England had the lions share of the ball with a 67 per cent share of territory. The Wallabies were forced to make 159 tackles to the 56 of England.
However, only when Danny Cipriani cut loose on a couple of occasions did England actually look dangerous and their only try came from Nick Easter after a forward shove.
The fly-half had a mixed day, with some horrible kicking and an ill-advised, poorly executed drop-goal attempt just when England were getting up some steam.
Cipriani's opposite number Matt Giteau kicked beautifully, landing seven of eight penalties, and was a calm and efficient orchestrator.
Cipriani, 21, is still finding his feet after his lengthy injury lay-off, will no doubt be offered sage advice to follow Giteau's example and not try to push things too quickly.
He remains a key part of Johnson's New England and with his ability to cut through the best of defences will hopefully be encouraged to continue with his natural game.
*Reuters
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
The Bio
Ram Buxani earned a salary of 125 rupees per month in 1959
Indian currency was then legal tender in the Trucial States.
He received the wages plus food, accommodation, a haircut and cinema ticket twice a month and actuals for shaving and laundry expenses
Buxani followed in his father’s footsteps when he applied for a job overseas
His father Jivat Ram worked in general merchandize store in Gibraltar and the Canary Islands in the early 1930s
Buxani grew the UAE business over several sectors from retail to financial services but is attached to the original textile business
He talks in detail about natural fibres, the texture of cloth, mirrorwork and embroidery
Buxani lives by a simple philosophy – do good to all
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
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The%20specs
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MATCH INFO
World Cup qualifier
Thailand 2 (Dangda 26', Panya 51')
UAE 1 (Mabkhout 45 2')
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable
Amitav Ghosh, University of Chicago Press
Fitness problems in men's tennis
Andy Murray - hip
Novak Djokovic - elbow
Roger Federer - back
Stan Wawrinka - knee
Kei Nishikori - wrist
Marin Cilic - adductor
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The Brutalist
Director: Brady Corbet
Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce, Joe Alwyn
Rating: 3.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Emirates exiles
Will Wilson is not the first player to have attained high-class representative honours after first learning to play rugby on the playing fields of UAE.
Jonny Macdonald
Abu Dhabi-born and raised, the current Jebel Ali Dragons assistant coach was selected to play for Scotland at the Hong Kong Sevens in 2011.
Jordan Onojaife
Having started rugby by chance when the Jumeirah College team were short of players, he later won the World Under 20 Championship with England.
Devante Onojaife
Followed older brother Jordan into England age-group rugby, as well as the pro game at Northampton Saints, but recently switched allegiance to Scotland.