England 'starting to create a DNA', says Furbank ahead of Australia clash

By Sports Desk November 06, 2024

George Furbank thinks England are "starting to create a DNA" as they prepare to face Australia on Saturday.

Steve Borthwick's side are gearing up for their second match of this year's Autumn Nations Series, which began with a narrow 24-22 defeat against New Zealand last weekend.

Borthwick has named an unchanged starting XV to face the All Blacks, with Furbank set to earn his 12th cap.

The Northampton Saints full-back believes that consistency is key for England, who are targeting an 11th win from 12 meetings with the Wallabies. 

"We wanted to win all four of these autumn games," Furbank told BBC Radio 5 Live. "We put ourselves in a great position to win the first one, but didn't, so now the focus is on the next one.

"It is now about creating a new energy and a new drive against fresh opposition. Australia play differently to New Zealand, so it will be a different challenge.

"I don't think we are going to change our gameplan too much. We are starting to create a DNA in the way we want to play in attack and defence.

"Australia are definitely building as a side, like we are, and I have never played Australia before, so I'm quite excited about that."

The only tweaks from last weekend come in the centre partnership with Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence swapping places, while Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ollie Sleightholme replace Theo Dan and Ben Curry on the bench.

"Ollie [Lawrence] and Sladey have been interchangeable in the way they play from an attack and defence point of view," Borthwick explained.

"The number of Test matches they have played together in a row as a centre partnership is also very high in terms of frequency.

"They have a good understanding of how we wish to play, so I'm looking forward to seeing them go in their slightly tweaked roles this weekend."


 

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