Danny Care has called for patience as England implement their new attacking strategy during their summer Tour to Australia.
Eddie Jones’ side fell to a frustrating 30-28 first Test defeat at the hands of the Wallabies, despite lock Darcy Swain being shown a red card in the opening half.
The loss ended England’s run of eight consecutive wins against Australia and is the fourth loss in a row for Jones’ side, including one non-cap fixture against the Barbarians.
But returning Harlequins scrum-half Care, who has been included in the England squad for the first time since November 2018, believes it is essential that the side is given time to change its style.
“It takes time. You can’t just instantly be a brilliantly attack team,” said Care ahead of Saturday’s second Test in Brisbane.
“We’ve got different characters in the squad and different team mentalities that we’re trying to bring into one team.
“The new England type of attack wants to be an all-court game. We want to be able to play from anywhere.
“We ran out of our own half a couple of times. We kicked, and we exited differently. But we want to play quickly, we want to be confrontational.
“We have some great ball-playing forwards who can batter the door down, and then we’re not bad at 12 with Owen (Farrell). And with Marcus (Smith), we’re trying to get that connection going.
“If we can get that going, get some quicker ball on the front foot. Hopefully, that’s how we will play.”
A difficult first half for the Wallabies finished 6-6, with Swain seeing red and three other home players being forced from the field due to injury.
Ellis Genge went over for England after the break, but Australia bounced back, with Jordan Petaia, Folau Fainga’a and Pete Samu scoring to snatch an impressive win.
Henry Arundell and debutant scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet crossed the whitewash in the game’s dying embers, but it wasn’t enough as Australia took a 1-0 series lead.
Care added: “I wouldn’t say we’re in a hole. It’s a little bump. Six years ago we had amazing success here in Australia to win the series 3-0, but those games could have gone either way,” Care said.
“The first one this time has gone their way, and we’ll do everything we can to tie it up and take it to a decider.
“The confidence is there in the squad. I’ve probably never been in a team that has felt as together as this team. Off the field, it is incredibly tight.
“We lost the game, so ultimately we’ve got to look at ourselves and see how we get better. The exciting thing is that we know we can be a lot better. We’re desperate to get back out there and show that.”
