Tuesday 14 June 2016 14:14, UK
Phil Edwards looks at England's first-Test win, Eddie Jones' bout with the media, and Australia's city of sport, Melbourne...
It's so far so good for England in Australia. On Saturday they made history by beating the Wallabies in Brisbane for the first time. Now they're hoping to give the sporting chroniclers more work by wrapping up their first series win in Australia at the earliest available opportunity. These are heady times for Eddie Jones and his merry men.
Saturday's victory was all the more poignant because it came at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium, formerly known as Lang Park. It was there in 1998 that England suffered their worst day at the office.
"Fast Eddie has been playing both countries' media like a violin. Actually, more like a demented fiddler after three double espressos."
The yet-to-be-knighted Clive Woodward had taken a scratch team to tackle all three of the southern hemisphere's super-powers, on what would become known as the Tour from Hell.
The first of four Tests, all ending in painful defeats, was in Brisbane. Most of the big names were missing, and a collection of players, some of whom weren't even household names in their own households, crashed to a 76-0 defeat.
I say most were relative unknowns, but there was a bloke making his first start for England that night you will have heard of; a fella by the name of Jonny Wilkinson. And you know what he managed to achieve five years later! Anyhow, Saturday's win exorcised a few demons.
Now the bandwagon has rolled on to Melbourne. By contrast, this is where England had their best day on the road against Australia, back in 2003. Criticised before the match for being negative and one-dimensional - some things never change - they ran riot and out-scored their hosts by three tries to one to record their first ever victory on Australian soil.
If you are a sports fan (and you are or you wouldn't be reading this) then Melbourne has it all. There is the MCG for cricket and Aussie Rules football, the Melbourne Cup for racing types, the AAMI Stadium for both codes of rugby, the Rod Laver Arena for Grand Slam tennis, and the Australian Grand Prix circuit in Albert Park.
If you like your rowing and canoeing, there's the Yarra River and I dare say that if Tibetan Yak racing is your thing, there's probably an amateur club somewhere in the suburbs to cater for your every need. It's at the aforementioned AAMI stadium, home to the Melbourne Rebels, in which England and Australia will meet in the second Test.
That's the main act of the week of course, but as I'm sure you are aware, there is also an on-going sub-plot. Various former Wallabies, one of them actually capped by Eddie Jones, have been chirping away in the local papers, and on the telly.
They've been helpfully pointing out England's flaws, transgression and, before the first Test had been played, their general hopelessness. Consequently, Fast Eddie has been playing both countries' media like a violin. Actually, more like a demented fiddler after three double espressos.
To start with he was apparently outraged by the comments he'd read and seen. That was straight after the first Test. Two days later that infectious grin had returned and it was all just good old knock-about banter. We all know he's playing mind-games of the highest quality, but they're simply too good to resist!
One thing the England coach did remind us of is that Australia have never lost the second Test of a three match series. As a punter who paid his way to watch the Lions series with some mates back in 2001, I remember all too well the heartache of the second Test.
That was here in Melbourne in the indoor Etihad Stadium. One loose pass from Jonny Wilkinson that night, and Joe Roff pounced to score a game-changing try, followed by another shortly afterwards.
Twelve years later at the same venue, it wasn't so much heart-break, as near heart-failure as the Wallabies edged a desperately tense match by a single point.
This time, you feel that England have the upper hand at both the lineout and the scrum. They also seem to have the measure of the Wallabies at the breakdown.
Owen Farrell is in the form of his life and never looks like missing from the kicking tee, and Maro Itoje has to refer to a dictionary to find out what 'losing' means because he's forgotten.
Having said all that, the Aussies are still as dangerous out wide as all their snakes and creepy-crawlies combined.
And in Isreal Folau they have a player who can turn a match on its head in seconds. They are in must-win territory and about as desperate as men can get. Saturday should be an absolute ripper, as they say in these parts.
