The Wallabies’ hopes of bouncing back with a strong start on the spring tour have been smashed by a rampant England, who trounced the Wallabies by a record score of 45-22 at Twickenham.
There was to no repeat of the Wallabies’ 2024 heroics at the famous venue on a woeful day by the Australia side, who were dominated in all facets of play by England.
The hosts repeatedly picked apart Australia’s shoddy defence, both wide and narrow, and scored seven tries to three. Two consolation tries to the Wallabies in the last quarter appeared to have saved the Wallabies from the embarrassment of a record margin of defeat (24), but a late intercept try to Ben Spencer ensured England did the other way, posting their biggest ever score over the Wallabies.
Australia only trailed by 19-10 after a lacklustre opening 40 minutes, after Max Jorgensen scored an intercept on the stroke of halftime. In a telling stat, Australia didn’t enter England’s quarter until the 37th minute of the game.
But any hope of fighting back in the second half was dashed when they gave up another simple try soon after the break, and two tries in three minutes midway through the second half to flashy back-rower Henry Pollock - while deployed as a winger - was enough to end the contest.
Late tries to Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams in the last quarter helped the scoreline but the game was well and truly lost by then.
The Wallabies’ attack wasn’t any better than their defence, and most promising opportunities were ruined by a steady stream of errors or penalties. The decision to start powerhouse back-rower Rob Valetini was exposed as a never-to-be-repeated mistake by the Wallabies’ inability to make any headway against a strong England defence.
Their other main carrier, Angus Bell, was sin-binned for a hip-drop tackle before halftime.
“We struggled to get our game going, England put us under the pump in the first half and we didn’t get too many a-zone entries,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said.
“England were the better side. They fronted up physically. Our defence wasn’t physical enough, and we didn’t slow the ball down. Credit to England.”
The Wallabies trailed 19-10 at halftime after a sloppy opening 40 minutes in which they struggled to make any headway, and were lucky to not concede more than three tries.
England looked the sharper in attack and it only took 90 seconds to cross the Wallabies line, when defensive holes in the Aussie midfield saw winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso stroll over untouched.
Luckily for the visitors, the TMO alerted referee Pierre Brousset to a forward pass four phases earlier, and the try was disallowed.
The Wallabies looked panicky coming out of their quarter, and England re-applied pressure. After an obstruction penalty, England kicked to the corner and rolled in a try to hooker Jamie George in the 8th minute.
Ryan Lonergan banged over a penalty in the 10th minute but Australia’s exits continued to be poor, and though Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was doing well catching contestable kicks, the Wallabies attack was sluggish and disorganised, and didn’t penetrate at all against a fast-and-aggressive England defensive line.
It seemed a matter of time that England would reap more dividend from their territory dominance, and that came via an Ollie Chessum try in the 25th minute in the left corner. It came from more defensive spacing problems that left an extra man on the end for England after sustained phases.
The Wallabies’ problems got worse when Angus Bell was sin-binned in the 32nd minute for a hip-drop tackle, which have just been outlawed in rugby. It was not upgraded to red but Australia paid a price anyway, with England again kicking to the corner and rolling in another try to prop Joe Heyes.
The Wallabies began playing directly with a man down, belatedly, and it proved more effective. But panicky play in England’s half kept turning the ball over, and the Aussies had to rely on Max Jorgensen to get them back in striking distance. The winger poached a England wide pass on the halfway line and ran in to score, making the halftime deficit just nine points.
It didn’t take England long to restore their lead though, when they scored soon after the halftime break when caught out defensively again in the wide channel.
A line break led to a try by halfback Jack Van Poortvliet in the 42nd minute, who was trailing on the inside.
The Wallabies tried opening the game up but continued to cough the ball up, or concede penalties when in attack, and they could ill-afford to give the defence problems.
Flashy back-rower Henry Pollock entered the game on the wing, covering the spot on a 6-2 bench, and his impact proved fatal for the Wallabies.
After another ball kicked out of the full turnover, England steamed towards Australia’s line and Pollock finished off a try in the 54th minute out wide. He scored another and that pushed England out to a 28-point lead.
The entry of Daugunu and Ben Donaldson in the last 25 minutes saw the Wallabies attack begin to throw better punches, and the Reds winger scored.
Jeremy Williams also crossed after a long-range attack.
But Daugunu gave away a try to England in the dying stages by trying to pop an offload that was intercepted by Ben Spencer.
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