Jeremy Guscott verdict: Now find sharper attacking edge to challenge for that 2019 RWC

Epic is not too big a word for this achievement of becoming the first England side to win a three-Test series in Australia. Built upon the solid foundation of passion and determination, this performance was reminiscent of England circa 2003 – and what a joy to behold.
Regardless of next week’s result, England have proved to be the second best team in the world and with the confidence this bunch are showing, a whitewash in Sydney is very much on the cards.
It’s been a dramatic turnaround since the World Cup exit and Eddie Jones seems to have rectified the one area in which England have been lacking since 2003 – mental fortitude. They won just one Six Nations title between 2004 and 2016 – under Martin Johnson in 2011 – and too many times seemed to lack the strength up top to get the job done.
Jones would have witnessed that himself and knew the number one area to improve was their resilience and ability to think clearly under pressure and make correct decisions when the body is knackered. Preparation counts for only so much and Jones seems to have empowered the players to think for themselves and play what is in front of them.
It’s another great step on the road to becoming world champions, but to do that in 2019 I feel this team will need to evolve their attacking element. Yesterday they were on the back foot for the majority of the game, enjoying just 29 per cent possession and 26 per cent territory. While it was a remarkable backs-to-the-wall performance, they will not expect to beat a top class All Blacks team with such little ball or field position. On those stats the All Blacks will crush you.
Solid defence will win you games, even Six Nations Championships, but to push on they must dominate matches from the off and will need to follow Saracens‘ lead and develop their all-round game over the next couple of years. When they do, it will keep defences more honest knowing there are options to launch attacks from anywhere – like New Zealand. That’s the next challenge.
However, nothing should be taken away from this solid set-piece orientated series victory. Jones knows England’s traditional strength is in the forwards and maintained that focus on the bulldog spirit, with forwards coaches Neal Hatley and Steve Borthwick having done fine work restoring them as a dominant unit.
Gareth Bale said in the week that England’s footballers lacked the passion of the Welsh, and it was a charge levelled at the England teams I played for in the 90s. The same cannot be said of this current side as this run of dogged, passionate performances have proved.
And the beauty of this side is that the mental strength has not been manufactured – most of these boys have been successful at Junior World Cup level and playing their peers from the Southern Hemisphere holds no fear. They’ve already beaten them at the age-grade and know they can do it every time they take the field.
Maro Itoje epitomises this new England, and with other JWC-winners such as Anthony Watson, Jack Nowell and Henry Slade, the future is looking very bright. The majority of the side are under 25, years away from hitting their peak, and the competition for places will only increase as Jones builds towards 2019. With the Saxons going well in South Africa, and England’s U20s through to the Junior World Cup semi-finals, standards will only increase.
Jones has proven he is not afraid to drop a player, such as Ford and Nowell in the first Test, and while he always backs his players in public, behind closed doors they all know exactly what he demands and it is no coincidence that a good bunch of these guys – back-row in particular – are playing the best rugby of their careers.
As successful as the Ford-Farrell axis was again in parts yesterday, I have my doubts how effective it will be in the long run and, as we saw last week, Jones may still have doubts himself as Ford was dropped for Luther Burrell. To unlock the tightest defences, England ideally need a recognised inside-centre who can do a job like Matt Giteau, Ma’a Nonu or Will Greenwood. When fit, Manu Tuilagi will give Jones a conundrum – as could Ben Te’o.
While Farrell continues to bang over 90 per cent of his kicks and plays with the composure and confidence he has displayed over the past fortnight, he has to start.
There aren’t many in the world who you would rather take a pressure kick. While Ford is behind in those stakes presently, it is an area that he could develop as he is another who has proved to have amazing mental toughness. It has been a poor season for the Bath fly-half by his own standards after being dropped for the World Cup and enduring a poor run in the Premiership leading to last week’s demotion to the bench. But to bounce back in the style he has is impressive.
Throughout Stuart Lancaster’s tenure England were always being talked about as a developmental side and thankfully that is a thing of the past now.
So the next challenge for this team is to become the world’s best side, and to threaten the All Blacks’ supremacy, they must match them first and foremost in the fitness stakes.
It’s been a joy to watch Billy Vunipola going hard for the full 80 minutes in recent matches but I would challenge the whole squad to improve their fitness levels by 15 to 20 per cent by 2019 – then England can become the side we all dream of.
Natural leaders are emerging, with Itoje a standout player in every match he plays. England need him and four or five others to push on now to world class status.
Others in the pack such as George Kruis, the Vunipola brothers, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole all seem to have raised their game dramatically in the last six months and with new blood like Paul Hill, Kyle Sinckler, Ellis Genge, Jack Clifford, Dave Ewers and Teimana Harrison hot on their heels, competition will only get fiercer.