What is it about England summer tours to the other side of the equator? They start off in hope, with a smattering of trepidation, and end up, for the most part, in embarrassing failure. Since that night of nights in Sydney in 2003 when England reached their pinnacle, no fewer than 17 Test matches have been contested away to the big three.In all that time, amid all that endeavour and pain, the chaps with the red roses on their jerseys have managed to come up with just one win and a draw. Martin Johnsons tourists squeaked past Australia in Sydney in 2010, beating the Wallabies 21-20. Two year later, Stuart Lancasters men drew 14-14 in Port Elizabeth against South Africa. Australia will miss prop Sekope Kepu, who is playing in France for Bordeaux-Begles The same old excuses get wheeled out every time. England are knackered after a long, hard season. Too many of their first-choice players have been knocking seven bells out of each other in big domestic finals. Theyve flown through eleven time zones and havent had enough time to prepare.This year, however, I truly believe things will be different.For a start, the Aussies are almost certainly going to be missing a number of their big stars from the World Cup. Michael Chekika has said hes unlikely to pick players who are based in France. That means the following ought to be unavailable: Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Drew Mitchell, Will Genia and the prop Sekope Kepu, who was instrumental in helping to turn the Australian scrum into such a potent force last autumn. Eddie Jones discusses the abrasive Michael Cheika Meanwhile, back in Oz, World Cup openside Michael Hooper has been ranked as only the fifth best No 7 in the country by former national coach Bob Dwyer. Furthermore, apart from the Melbourne Rebels, the other Aussie franchises are not exactly dazzling anyone at the moment in Super Rugby.England, on the other hand, are in a very good place. They are champions of the northern hemisphere and had three sides in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup. Sarries could yet win the thing. Talking of Saracens, England also possess arguably the best second row in the northern hemisphere in Maro Itoje and George Kruis. Their No 8 Billy Vunipola just missed out on being chosen as the Six Nations player of the tournament. Manu Tuilagi is getting back to his best Oh yeah, and at Leicester Manu Tuilagi is back to full fitness and scattering opponents about the park like skittles in a Tom and Jerry cartoon.England are also in a good place psychologically thanks to Eddie Jones. He clearly knows the right buttons to press and how make the most of Englands traditional strengths. In all my time of watching training, I have also never seen the guys pushed as hard as they were in February and March.Jones has also spoken about wanting to go back to his native land and emulate the England cricketers on the Ashes tour of 1932/33. That was the notorious Bodyline Series when Douglas Jardine and co. set about battering Don Bradman out of his comfort zone. Eighty three years later, Jones wants England to be ruthless up front, to earn the right to spread the ball and play rugby.You may accuse me of being unduly optimistic, or for having partied too hard with Martin Castrogiovanni in Vegas, but I believe England can be really competitive in the forthcoming three Test series.A lot will depend on the injury count at the business end of the season, and whether or not we get any more acts of gross stupidity to trouble the disciplinarians, but it could be that England are about to add some long overdue victories to that solitary win in 17 attempts since their World Cup triumph. Watch Englands tour to Australia on Sky Sports. Catch the first Test for £6.99 with a NOW TV day pass. Also See: Wallabies could rest players No England sourness for Rowntree Tomane to miss England clash Follow @SkySportsRugby Albert Pujols Angels Jersey .com) - Tonight will go a long way in determining the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference. Zack Cozart Jersey . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. http://www.baseballangelslockroom.com/sh...els-jersey/.com) - Robert Martin and Josh Hicks combined for more than 300 yards rushing and three touchdowns, as Rutgers rolled past North Carolina, 40-21, in the Quick Lane Bowl. Cody Allen Angels Jersey . -- Chad Labelle scored the winner 17:36 into the third period to give Medicine Hat a 2-1 victory over the Swift Current Broncos on Sunday and lift the Tigers into the second round of the Western Hockey League playoffs. Kole Calhoun Angels Jersey . The two-time Olympic halfpipe gold medallist informed ESPN on Monday he plans to compete in Apsen, Colo.Carson, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Gyasi Zardes and Robbie Keane each scored a pair of goals on Wednesday as the Los Angeles Galaxy cruised to a comfortable 5-1 win over the struggling New England Revolution at the StubHub Center. Keane opened the scoring for Los Angeles after just 10 minutes and Zardes followed by doubling the advantage eight minutes later. New England pulled one back in the 38th minute to get back in the match. But Zardes completed his double just three minutes into the second half to go with a goal from Stefan Ishizaki in the 75th minute and a second tally from Keane three minutes later to wrap up the points for Los Angeles, which extended its unbeaten streak in league play to eight matches and improved to 27 points on the campaign. New England, meanwhile, is still searching for answers after dropping its sixth consecutive match. Despite the loss, the Revs remain in fourth place in the East with 23 points. Keane opened the scoring after 10 minutes when he collected the ball on the left flank from Baggio Husidic, cut inside and rippeed a strike into the top right corner of the net, leaving New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth with no chance for a save.dddddddddddd Zardes bagged his first of the match eight minutes later as he controlled a deft layoff in the box from Keane and blasted it past Shuttleworth. Things swung in favor of New England in the 36th minute when LA defender Dan Gargan was shown a straight red card following a rash tackle from behind on Revs forward Teal Bunbury which also led to a penalty kick that was easily dispatched by Nguyen to make it 2-1 at the break. Zardes restored the Galaxys two-goal margin just three minutes into the second half when he tapped home a perfectly-played square pass from Keane to put the result away. The Galaxy then added a fourth goal 15 minutes from time when Ishizaki stepped up to a free kick from 25 yards out. The strike took a deflection off the wall and beat Shuttleworth to the top left corner. Keane then put a bow on the dominant performance by firing home his second goal of the match in the 78th minute. ' ' '