England v Australia LIVE rugby: Result and reaction after Wallabies snatch victory in Twickenham thriller
England 37-42 Australia: Steve Borthwick’s side suffered another narrow defeat as their search for a win goes on
Australia secured a dramatic victory over England in a Twickenham thriller as Max Jorgensen’s final-minute try piled more pressure on Steve Borthwick.
After a narrow defeat to the All Blacks in their Autumn Nations Series opener continued a run of close losses, England raced out of the blocks, surging in front through two tries from Chandler Cunningham-South and a Marcus Smith penalty. But their control soon lapsed as Australia came to the party, showing off their entertaining attacking game to take the lead before half time. After the interval, the Wallabies widened the gap as Jeremy Williams powered into the corner, leaving the hosts staring down the barrel of a fourth successive defeat.
Some excellent play from Harlequins’ Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt set up Ollie Sleightholme for two tries in quick succession to edge England back in front, before Andrew Kellaway and Maro Itoje traded scores as the game swang back and forth. But Jorgensen’s scamper to the corner snatched victory at the last in another difficult day for Borthwick’s side.
Re-live all of the action from Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in our live blog below:
HT: England 18-20 Australia
A concerning half for England, sucked into an open game and increasingly struggling to combat the Wallabies as it wore on. Tom Curry is gone for good and both Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Ollie Lawrence have been off for HIAs, disrupting England significantly after a bright start in attack. Could they kick more and try to take some more territorial control?
HALF-TIME! England 18-20 Australia
HALF-TIME! England 18-20 Australia
Ben O’Keefe blows for half-time and the teams head in with the scores close, but the visitors ahead despite a good start from England.
PENALTY! England 18-20 Australia
40 mins
The clock is in the red as Lolesio eases the kick over, and the Wallabies have a half-time lead of 18-20!
England 18-17 Australia
40 mins
Cunningham-South is penalised after blocking the chase from Kellaway. The Wallabies work their way into the 22, advancing after some strong running from the forwards, until they win a penalty and opt for the kick.
England 18-17 Australia
37 mins
A speculative effort fro Sleightholme – who’s come back on as Lawrence is getting an HIA – as he receives the ball on the 10m line and opts to chase a kick, but it’s overhit and runs out.
Another messy scrum and England are penalised again.
CONVERTED TRY! England 18-17 Australia
34 mins
TRY! Great play from McDermott twice. He’s just come on for Gordon, but he spots a gap after Australia play it wide through the hands. He sneaks under the tackle, darts into the space and offloads for Wilson to go over!
England 18-10 Australia
33 mins
There’s a brief break to clean up a cut and when play resumes, Australia win a free-kick from the scrum, before an advantage after Stewart is offside.
England 18-10 Australia
28 mins
England claw back some of their advantage as Smith kicks over for three, while it emerges that Feyi-Waboso has passed his HIA and will return to the field soon.
CONVERTED TRY! England 15-10 Australia
26 mins
TRY! The away side are back in it!
There’s an advantage after England collapse the maul and Australia take it, advancing into a central area. There’s a 3-v-3 from the ruck but Slade overcommits, and some great footwork from Sua’ali’i allows space for a good offload, and Wright has plenty of space to finish in the corner.
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