Former England assistant Brian Smith says the Wallabies will use their November win at Twickenham as the blueprint for series success against the Lions.
The Lions’ summer opponents triumphed 20-14 gaianst Stuart Lancaster’s troops in London last November, just a week after being hammered 33-6 by France in Paris.
Young openside Michael Hooper produced a stunning man-of-the-match display as the Wallabies comprehensively won the battle of the breakdown, while the clever kicking of fly-half Kurtley Beale and full back Berrick Barnes kept England on the back foot.
And Smith, who won 5 caps for the Wallabies in 1987 before coaching England under Martin Johnson between 2008 and 2011, expects to see Robbie Deans employ the same tactics when his side meet Britain and Ireland’s elite in Brisbane on June 22.
“How did the Wallabies unpick the England side at Twickenham last time around? They got stuck into them at the breakdown and Hooper was at the heart of that,” Smith said on Sky Sports.
“There’s definitely a big place in international rugby for genuine opensides.
“The other thing was that they broke up England’s line speed with a short kicking game. There were possibly half a dozen kicks throughout the match that turned the defence around and they got good field position from that and opened them up.
“The kicking game of Berrick Barnes and the work of Hooper at the breakdown really undid England.
“This is the blueprint Robbie Deans will have against the Lions because it will be an Andy Farrell defence and they’ll have a lot of line speed.”
Those thoughts were echoed by fellow Sky Sports analyst and ex-Springbok star Thinus Delport, who believes Deans will have taken great interest in this year’s RBS 6 Nations given what lies ahead in the summer.
“There’s so much analysis that goes on and the Six Nations is such a great template for the Wallabies to look at,” added Delport.
“England are the strongest Six Nations side at this stage so, with the inclusion of some of the English support staff, that is going to be the main game the Lions play.
“The Wallabies are going to look at how they beat England at Twickenham last year and go forward and work on that.
“It’s about slowing that ball down and disrupting it, and the openside role is going to be so crucial to this series.”
