Wigan Warriors' Harry Smith urges England to build on second Test improvement in Ashes finale
England may have fallen to a 14-4 defeat to Australia in the second Test last weekend, but halfback Harry Smith believes there were plenty of positives to take from the performance, and even more to build on ahead of Saturday’s third and final Test.
The Wigan Warriors star returned to Shaun Wane’s line-up for the second Test, having missed out on selection in the Ashes opener at Wembley.
Smith felt England showed significant improvement from their 26-6 defeat in the opening Test, and despite the loss at Hill Dickinson Stadium, England matched Australia for large spells, with the score level at 4-4 at the break, before a short lapse in the second half ultimately cost them, with Cameron Munster and Hudson Young scoring for the Kangaroos to clinch the Ashes series with a game to spare.
“I thought it was a big improvement from week one,” Smith said. “I thought we were right in the game for large periods, it was just that 10 minutes we probably switched off and then a few areas in attack.
"We’re coming together as a team – a new spine with me and AJ (Brimson) not playing together before and stuff like that – but it’s no excuse.
“They took two half-chances, and we probably created three or four half-chances that we didn’t take, and at this level, that’s the difference. That’s what gets you the win, or can be a loss as well. But on the whole, it was a great experience to play for my country as always.”
England’s defensive display and discipline through the first 40 minutes were notably much better than the previous week’s performance at Wembley, where Australia dominated from the start.
Smith felt the momentum was on England’s side going into the half-time interval last week, but conceded the break may have arrived at an inconvenient moment, at a time when England had the visitors on the ropes.
“That was the talk at half-time – that we were in a great spot,” Smith explained. “We’d put them in tough areas – we hadn’t made it easy for them to get their shapes on or have it all their own way like they did in the first Test, so it was about continuing that and taking our chances.
“We started the second half alright, but it was just that 10-minute spell – two errors and a penalty, throwing the ball in touch – and they took advantage. Fair play to them. It’s hard to then chase the game with the intensity and fatigue, but if we can put that first-half performance in for 80 minutes, then hopefully we can get on the right side of the result.”
With Australia already 2-0 in the series, there is only pride to play for at AMT Headingley on Saturday for England in the final Test – and Smith believes the familiarity with getting more games together as a spine will be key to turning strong performances into victories.
Having only played with fullback AJ Brimson for the first time last weekend, Smith says the squad are learning more about each other as the days go on.
"Yeah, 100 per cent of building those combinations of what people like and seeing how they go in a game,” said Smith.
"It’s different in training, people can tell you what it’s like, but when it’s in the heat of the moment and if they do step up and say what they like or don’t like, it’s different.
“There are areas we need to improve in attack and to speak about that, speak as a spine and 13 of what we need to do better this week and try to implement that, it’s only going to hopefully help us in this last game.”