Shattered Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson conceded his team “didn’t fire a shot” after being smashed by a rampant England in a record 45-22 defeat at Twickenham.
There was to be no repeat of the Wallabies’ 2024 heroics at the famous venue on a woeful afternoon from 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 points), but a late intercept try to Ben Spencer saw England secure some history in a different way, with their biggest ever score against the Wallabies.
Despite a lacklustre opening 40 minutes, Australia were still in the contest at halftime after Max Jorgensen scored an intercept to make the score 19-10.
But any hope of a further fightback in the second half was dashed when they gave up another simple try soon after the break, and when flashy back-rower Henry Pollock - who was deployed as a winger - scored two tries in three minutes midway through the second half, the contest was over.
Late tries to Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams in the last quarter bolstered the Wallabies’ score but it was far too little, and far too late.
The Wallabies’ attack wasn’t any better than their defence, and their game long struggle to exit their half gave England ample opportunity to build pressure and score.
Most of the Wallabies promising opportunities in attack 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.
In one of a number of telling stats, Australia didn’t enter England’s quarter until the 37th minute of the game. England missed just two of 81 tackles in the opening half, and the only line break conceded was Jorgensen’s intercept.
Australia’s 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 in an on-field interview.
“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.”
Speaking later at the media conference, Wilson said the Wallabies had been thoroughly outplayed by a strong England but couldn’t put his finger on why.
“It is really disappointing,” he said. “We didn’t really fire a shot, in that first half and I guess we were really excited to go out there and try and fire some shots and really back our game.
“England put us in tough field position. It felt like we’re always trying to exit, get out of our end.
“I am really disappointed because I expect better from us, and we’ve got to take those learnings next week into Scotland because we know when we’re at our best and we’re backing our game and we’re really putting teams under threat.”
Wallabies coach Les Kiss said: “England pinned us well. They controlled that field position, and put pressure on us at different times. We just didn’t get going, particularly in the first half.
“I give a lot of credit to England, the way they imposed their plan on us and didn’t give us a chance to impose what we would like to have done with the ball”.
“Our training all week was really about making sure we found those opportunities that we believed was in the defence line of England. We just didn’t really fire a shot to get to those spaces.“
The Wallabies trailed 19-10 at halftime after a sloppy opening 40 minutes in which they were lucky to not concede more than three tries.
England were immediately on the attack and had a second try scratched for an earlier forward pass. But 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 run by Declan Meredith was tentative and disorganised.
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 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.
Jorgensen’s try helped the Wallabies enter the sheds with some confidence, but it quickly faded after oranges when more gaps in the defence saw England halfback Jack Van Poortvliet score in the 42nd minute.
Pollock’s two tries in the 54th and 57th minute ended the contest.
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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