London: Two years ago, his biting critiques served as motivational fuel for the Wallabies to pull off a memorable victory at Twickenham.
But former England halfback Ben Youngs has not only changed his mind about the Wallabies, he is now a big fan and believes Australia are dark horses for the 2027 World Cup on home soil.
“Genuinely, as we lead towards this weekend, I’m slightly nervous about it,” Youngs said.
The Wallabies take on England at Twickenham on Monday morning (AEDT) but there’ll be no repeat of the type of build-up to the 2024 clash at the same venue.
Youngs, an affable pundit whose commentary is lighthearted, willingly ate humble pie the next day and was stoked when the Wallabies put up a massive fight against the Lions in 2025.
Speaking to this masthead in London ahead of Monday’s clash, Youngs said he rated the Wallabies’ chances based on their form, and warned England fans from reading too much into Australia’s two losses to the All Blacks.
“For the people who maybe don’t follow rugby as deeply, but are coming to the game at the weekend, they will have seen the Bledisloe results, for me, that’s not actually a fair reflection of where Australia’s at. If you’re going on that snapshot, actually you’re grabbing at fool’s gold there,” he said.
“The scorelines and the actual results don’t reflect those games. Certainly the first Test, they went to the kick to the corner. That was a massive moment. They lose the lineout, five out — a try there can swing the match. And then New Zealand can rack it up quite quickly when they get going. They would probably be more disappointed about that second Test than they would be that first one, certainly on home soil.”
“As a snapshot of the Aussies, I still see them — and I’ve been saying it on the pod with Coley (ex-England prop Dan Cole) for a while actually — as my dark horses at the World Cup, in the sense that they’re going about their business.
“And the South Africa win was a hell of a win. Everyone can say, yes, Africa rotated and all that, but at the end of the day, you’ve still got to beat what’s in front of you. And they did it, and with all the yellow cards, they did it tough.”
Youngs is an admirer of new Wallabies coach Les Kiss, and rates McReight as one of the best No.7s in the world.
“The Achilles’ heel for me at the moment watching Australia, is the halves; they just haven’t quite got that cutting quality,” Youngs said.
“That’s the disconnect, because you’ve got a pack that can mix it, especially when (Will) Skelton gets back from his Achilles injury. You’ve got a back row that can compete with anyone in the world, you’ve got a backline that most international teams would slap your hand off for that talent. The biggest thing for me is the nine and 10.”
England remains a side with an identity problem, according to Youngs. The domestic English Premiership has evolved into a free-flowing competition with fast-paced attack and lots of tries – there are now more tries per game in it than in Super Rugby – but England coach Steve Borthwick remains a believer in a more traditional style at Test level.
“The big thing from an English fans’ perspective is, we are still yet to see consistency in this team and an identity of how they want to play. And the team selection has not married up with team strategy. We’ve selected certain players and we watch them from Northampton play a certain brand,” Youngs said.
“They move the ball. If you’re a southern hemisphere fan and you don’t watch too much northern rugby, you’d watch Northampton, you’d be entertained, and you’d get that Super Rugby vibe. They move the ball and they are exciting to watch.
“But England have adopted a very pragmatic style under Steve, and that doesn’t necessarily suit a team capable of being a bit more expansive. The big question really for everyone this autumn is, we’re not 100 per cent sure where England are at and which direction they’re going.”
Iain Payten is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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