A little over a week from now England will be looking to avenge the thrilling defeat suffered a year ago at Twickenham at the hands of Australia. It was the day the northern hemisphere saw the potential of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. One year on and the name on English rugby fans’ lips is Noah Caluori. “Who?” became “Him!” as the Saracens teenager tore Sale Sharks to shreds with his stunning displays of aerial prowess — but club is different to country.
Caluori is unlikely to start against Australia. The very thought is close to crazy. Nineteen years of age and 80 or so extraordinary minutes on the wing. It isn’t much to go on. The potential is unquestionable, the proof next to non-existent. Yet Steve Borthwick has called him into the England squad, albeit in an apprentice capacity. It is highly unlikely that he will be on the bench either. Not for the Australia game, anyway.
What we haven’t seen is whether he knows how to defend against the potent Wallabies attack — although the glue that holds them together, Exeter’s Len Ikitau, is unavailable as the game is outside the official Test match window. In the 2024 match between England and Australia, Borthwick’s midfield endured a nightmare, unable to decide whether to stick in their channels or rush infield. The tendency was to rush rather than hold the defensive shape and the Wallabies waltzed to glory down Twickenham’s unmarked touchlines.
Caluori is unlikely to start against Australia but the potential of the Saracens teenager is unquestionable
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Ikitau had a field day as his new Exeter colleague, Henry Slade, stepped infield when he and Marcus Smith should have played a wide waiting game. I suspect there will be plenty of column inches concerning the new England attack coach, Lee Blackett, but England will not want to repeat their midfield frailties again.
It was a brilliant match for a neutral. Pretty damned good for an English fan who was bored with the robotic rubbish that England had served up through the course of the 2023 World Cup. The match and late loss seemed, from a distance, like an inevitable continuation of their 2024 Six Nations campaign. They beat Ireland at Twickenham and gave France quite some game in Lyon. Among the errors there was emerging a stealthy hint of the exquisite.
The 2024 Australian defeat also seemed like a continuation of the painfully narrow 24-22 loss against New Zealand one week earlier. An hour of good rugby, but another ghastly result. And then came yet another brave defeat as the Springboks won 29-20 to keep the run of losses rolling (they had also lost their two Tests in New Zealand during the preceding summer series).
Borthwick pauses for a chat with Maro Itoje at Pennyhill Park on Wednesday. Both enjoyed excellent summers with England and the Lions respectively
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England were extending their range of play but they couldn’t stop losing. Five straight defeats against the southern hemisphere triumvirate masked the improvement. There was also the matter of four consecutive losses against Scotland.
In this year’s Six Nations, England ended that losing run. They were incredibly fortunate but they won. They beat France as well. That win was scarcely conceivable on the balance of play. Lady Luck had fallen in love with Borthwick and his boys. Since the first-round Six Nations defeat in Dublin this spring, England have won seven straight Test matches.
Looking at the broader picture and the results, there isn’t much doubt that in the immediate aftermath of the 2023 World Cup England struggled for wins despite showing signs of improvement and a definite determination to play their way out of their box. Gradually they flipped their habits; they were showing a capacity for being second best on the pitch but coming out ahead on the scoreboard. Neither condition is ideal for the long-term health of a rugby team.
Then came the finale of their Six Nations and a visit to Cardiff. England scored 68 points on a day when records tumbled and humiliations were heaped upon their great rugby rivals. “A new low for Wales” read the headlines. It is dangerous to measure a performance against a team at an “all-time low” but this was every bit as much a new high for Borthwick’s England.
That Six Nations game will prove to be the turning point for England. Earlier in the season, when South Africa beat up Wales, I sat in the Cardiff press box and watched in wonder at the depth and power of the running lines from men such as Eben Etzebeth. It was a great performance. Well, England lost absolutely nothing in comparison with the back-to-back world champions’ demolition job. It was a world-class performance, never mind Wales.
Easy to stare at the scoreboard and dismiss the stunned home side. Yet this was the best performance from an English team since beating New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup semi-final. Tommy Freeman played at No13, Ben Earl had half an hour at centre. Borthwick revealed a courage to take the opposition on with original thinking. It was a monstrous performance. The result was irrelevant, the style of the success was everything.
Ford deserves the first England No10 jersey of November after his performances in South America
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In Argentina, a home team that had beaten a Lions XV were destroyed by England in the first Test, 35-12 — another outstanding performance. A week later Argentina came seeking revenge. England had to dig deep. They did and they won. This was a tour where excellence and edge combined. It wasn’t so much who played in South America as how they played.
They played with balance, judgment, luck, the lot. George Ford kicked and passed beautifully and deserves to have the first England No10 jersey of November. Thereafter Borthwick will hopefully mix and match in a few positions. It isn’t the Six Nations, the pressure to win isn’t quite the same, but if they get their defence right they can keep the winning run going into 2026, including seeing off the All Blacks next month.
Which brings me back to Caluori. Australia tore England’s defence apart last year. They have cut the British & Irish Lions and South Africa to ribbons. Every instinct says “yes, play him”. How he measures up to the tactical challenge from Northampton Saints’ international half-backs and the physical threat out wide when Saracens go to Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night will decide the degree of Borthwick’s daring.
England’s fixturesAustralia November 1, 3.10pmNew Zealand November 15, 3.10pmArgentina November 23, 4.10pm