It wasn’t pretty at times but it was successful – Australia has ground out a key 20-14 win over England at Twickenham.
The Wallabies were the dominant team for most of the match and weathered a strong English assault in the second half to claim the Cook Cup.
Australia were under massive pressure after a woeful game against France last weekend. But they started this one well, showing pride in their defence and scrum as well as much more thrust in attack.
England, dressed in a ridiculous purple/maroon kit huffed and puffed but just couldn’t get it going. They were cruelled by numerous handling errors and struggled to build sustained pressure on an impressive Wallaby defence.
This win saved some Aussie pride and Robbie Deans’ job, for now. As every Australian fan knows, the Wallabies rarely string two good performances together, so they must remain focused with Italy and Wales still to play.
But, realistically, with Wales in disarray and Italy a limited team, there should be two wins left in the spring tour.
The Wallabies began the game aggressively, especially at the breakdown, but it was penalty for penalty early on. Australia had more possession but couldn’t get through the English wall, until a poor kick from the Poms changed the game.
Beale spun it to Phipps who found a hole, accelerated and found Cummins on the outside to score. On the replay the ball looked forward but the ref missed it and the Wallabies were ahead.
England kept plugging away and after a quick tap they got the ball to Tuilagi who just grounded it on the line, or was given the benefit of the doubt in a very close call. It gave them a three-point lead at half-time.
In the second half the Wallabies mounted pressure and pulled away with several penalty kicks. With they ball they looked menacing with Beale and Barnes working well together, Tapuai having a strong game and Cummins a blinder. Australia spotted a weakness in the English defence and found a lot of success with several little deft chip kicks in behind.
The momentum swung back England’s way late in the second half but effective tackling from the tired Wallabies and some poor options from England ruined any chance they had. England remain a team in transition with much work to do, especially their forwards.
Until they get a team that can pass fluently and efficiently with good ball skills from 1 to 15 then they will struggle against the All Blacks, Springboks and Wallabies. All the ‘Swing Low Sweet Chariot’ singing in the world and relentless forward driving won’t break down the best defences in the world. They need more.
This was a gusty display from Australia, exactly what the fan-base demanded.
The standouts were the scrum, which more than held their own, especially Ben Alexander. Barnes was also strong at 15, Taupuai impressive and Nick ‘Honey Badger’ Cummins was very good.
Michael Hooper had a blinder, winning the man-of-the-match, and Nathan Sharpe led from the front. Kurtely Beale was also solid at 10 after a weak display last weekend.
While there were a lot of positives, the Wallabies still need to work on a few issues. Tatafu Polota Nau is strong in contact and a good defender, but his lineout throwing is too poor for international level. A fit Stephen Moore is a must at hooker.
Sharpe is off to enjoy his retirement and depth at lock is needed. The likes of Neville and Pyle must be blooded. The same goes for scrum-half. Nick Phipps improved compared with the French farce but the Wallabies definitely need more adequate back-ups at nine when Will Genia is unavailable.
But for now the Wallabies and their fans can breath just a little easier, at least for a week. Further crisis has been avoided and this under-fire Aussie outfit has restored some pride in the green and gold jumper.
Follow John on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
Rangle
Guest
That's a clever aenwsr to a tricky question
sixo_clock
Roar Guru
Just which social ,career or sporting convention would be violated? What does "someone like Pocock" even mean? Hookers are people too! Not all of them play the banjo, chew cornstalks or scratch themselves innapropriately. As for League! That game has only 4 positions, forward, back, halfback and full back. There is virtually no specialisation at all. Keep the counting all on one hand, anything else is getting complicated. Anyone who doesn't need a finger to count the others fingers is an Upper Class, High and Mighty, Up Himself something or other. I'll think of it shortly!!?
Ra
Guest
I guess those rhetorical questions Gary
Ra
Guest
Hika Reid moved from flanker to hooker, (before Test level) and I think he might have packed down on the flank In a Test against Ozzie when originally picked as a hooker in the touring squad, I think
No mate I disagree, I have been very disappointed with the Boks. Our forwards are doing all the work and the Backs aren't rewarding them for their hard work. But then what do you expect with Jean (no pass) de Villiers at 12? The only hope I have left is that we can have some changes to our backline next year and have less injuries. Of the 11 tests we have played this year, only twice did we have Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen and Bryan Habana all on the pitch. The reality is Meyer has experimented with his forwards to an extent where now 11 tests later he has a pretty good idea who can play at that level, however the backs need a lot of work.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
nope, no boks v france unfortunately!
Rusty
Roar Guru
clicking like a bust knee... we played reasonable for 40-50min and then let the Scots roar back into the game...still lots to do
Caremello Koala
Guest
biltongbek the books have clicked into gear this tour. Maybe Meyr is not that bad a coach after all . they seem better than the RC. Also playing weaker opposition too,. I think they are playing France after England Boks VS France will be an awesome game too.
Justin2
Guest
Burgo not eligible but isnt it staggering when we have an obviously poor performing player yet his specialist replacement has barely played a minute. Seriously, you couldnt make it up...
Congratulations to Australia, for once they showed Passion, they also showed intent when they counter rucked (very successfully I might add) and their defence as always were commendable. Hooper had an outstanding game and overall the australian scrum did rather well against England. But england played this game incorrectly, forget about the option not to kick at posts, they went to wide too quickly and that is not how you beat the Australians with a backline that doesn't have the flair of New Zealand, they struggled in the rucks, players got isolated too often and it allowed Australia free reign at the breakdown often during the match. England must commit numbers to the ruck, and if they don't against South Africa the same result will stare them in the face. Australia should easily deal with Italy, but once again Wales is becoming desperate with nothing to lose, you should expect New Zealand to deal well with Wales and then it will be a nothing to lose, everything to gain match for wales. As long as Australia bring the intensity to the game they should beat Wales, but 5% off their game and Wales could cause an upset.
mark
Guest
this isn't league. you can't just have someone like pocock just decide to move to hooker.
Markus
Guest
He's not even the second choice, let alone second best. Deans' first three picks if available would be Genia, Nic White and Burgess. Ben Lucas may also have had the nod over him if fully fit. So he is essentially the fourth or even fifth choice scrumhalf, only just above Sheehan due to the benefit of youth.
cm
Guest
If Phipps is the second-best halfback in Australia, I reckon my 18yo son is worth a run off the bench. Gary's right. His passing is awful - all Harbour Bridge loops or behind the man - and while he was fractionally better at Twickenham than Stade Francais, he shows little nous about how to mix up his play.
Gary Russell-Sharam
Guest
The Wallabies played OK just. England IMO played poorly. I thought again the Hooper had a great game and Taps ignited the backline. He played very well (not overplaying) and that set the rest of the backline up for some good metres gained. Barnes was solid and settled the side down, I have only some small gripes in that he and Beale still use the chip and grubber kicks too much. The did come off to a certain extent but that only 1 in about a 100 times that this has happened. If you wanted to see some real constructive kicking you should have tuned into the France Argentinean game there was plenty of kicking but it all had a purpose. Disappointment of the match was seeing the English in their non traditional jerseys. The jerseys would have been OK (I had no problem with the colour etc) but for the fact that England play in WHITE with the red rose and that is sacrosanct in my eyes Beale was better as he watched Barnes and learnt from him. Phipps apart from his fortuitous break played fairly poorly, that's if you watched his passing etc part of his game. He was marginally better than the French game, but only just. Pray tell me why bring Sheehan along if you are only going to sit him on the pine??????? I also saw that Higgy is over there already sitting with the reserves. I would expect that he will be used in the next test as again apart from some lineout work Dennis didn't do that much. To my surprise I thought that Palu had his best game for yonks. He is nowhere near a Read or a Harinordoquy or most of the international number 8 around but he did put in a good one for this test. Now all we have to wait for is the inevitable (an injury). The front row went well (why oh why can't they do this most of the time) they are international players and they should play to that standard 90% of the time instead they do this 40% of the time. All in all a win is a win, that's all I can say about it and the saga of Deans will go on and on and on and on and on.
rae1
Guest
Thought the poms took the wallabies too lightly,and the wallabies played like a team more desperate to win.The wallabies outpassioned the poms and good on them.When there is a southern vs northern hemisphere battle as a kiwi i would back all southern teams,and it was great to see the aussies,samoa,south africa,argentina (last week) and the ABs contributing to the southern hemisphere superiority.Is it me or does Tuilagi look overweight and carrying too much muscle?
bennalong
Guest
On reviewing the match footage it should be noted that England did not get called for crooked throws when they occurred and TPN was called incorrectly twice I would like him checked if he appears concussed as this is now an option. Can anyone tell me how long you get before you return to the field?
el gamba
Guest
TJ's were average: - The first up and under had the winger marginally off-side (this may have been 50/50, the only one) - The up and under that the English lock took in spectacular fashion when he was clearly 5m in front of the kicker (this led to a period of 10 minutes of England in the attacking quarter) - The penalty for the late tackle/impeding the chase on the English player. This wasn't close to being the case. - The need to ask for the third upire to see if the ball went over the post! You picked another couple there Lindommer and it isn't really good enough as an official for test rugby... Wasn't one the bloke who blew our scrum off the park a week earlier?
jack
Guest
Usually Deans changes a lock at the same time he changes a prop, which doesn't help us when we're trying to work out their relative merits.However, this time he didn't although the English loose head was changed - and Kepu seemed to handle him as easily if not easier than Alexander had. Alexander seems to get the limelight - but I thought Kepu as usual was the better tighthead scrummager. What was clear is Timani and Palu do make a difference to this scrum, and Hooper and Dennis did well too in staying bound to help secure it. Now that Robinson is back to fitness and form, could someone review the locks and no 8 invovled when the scrumming has been poor. I suspect the automatic 1st response of sacrificing the tight head is not the correct response.
Chris
Guest
I love how Dean's did a 5 minute whinge at the end of the match about how he has kept the Wallabies at Number 2. I wish someone leant over and told him "actually Robbie, you lost the number two ranking last week and it's gone until next year unless the Bok's lose next week."
"Ted"
Guest
Lindommer - I've asked for some expert input elsewhere but nothing yet . Tuilagi hit the ground 6 feet out with some forward momentum with ball in hands under chest in contact with ground He then reached out with ball and placed ball with a definite clear gap to white line In a flash of time, but clearly observable, he saw this and rolled ball - actually half a ball- forward on the ground to definitely hit line. Phipps applied downward pressure on line but after the above so is irrelevant to the "Try or no Try " Is this a third movement ? , a knock on on the ground ? Playing the ball on the ground ? Or is he allowed to progress the ball on the ground within his reach and control? Does this final forward progress need to be an intrinsic forward momentum of the stretch out placement , or can further mechanical intent to move forward be applied after ball hits ground anyway? Several English press reports have called their own try dubious (and Phipps pass) I would welcome some expert analysis. On this scenario . Even the English press