England’s rugby union autumn campaign continued to capitulate in dismal despair, as Australia stunned the hosts by landing the decisive blow in a tightly contested thriller.
The world-class, iconic giants of southern hemisphere rugby – South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, and Australia – are descending on the northern hemisphere this November.
The Autumn Internationals, a month-long rugby extravaganza, sees these great sides battle against the home nations of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
This festival of rugby forms an exciting calendar highlight for the sport and gives adoring fans the chance to witness many of the world’s hottest talents live in the flesh and at the pinnacle of competition.
After a narrow loss to New Zealand in their opening fixture a week earlier, England continued their autumn run of fixtures with an agonising last-minute defeat to Australia at the home of English rugby, Twickenham.
ANALYSING A CLOSE CONTEST
At the end of a ferocious, gruelling match, Australia emerged as 42-37 winners against England in a thrilling battle that remained in the balance until the dying seconds.
A lively, positive start from England saw Chandler Cunningham-South secure a pair of excellent tries in the opening exchanges.
However, the Wallabies gradually clawed their way back into the first half with well-worked tries from Tom Wright and Harry Wilson. Next, a second penalty kick from Noah Lolesio propelled the Aussies into a tight 20-18 lead at the halfway point.
Responding strongly in the second period, Jeremy Williams touched down in the 50th minute to reward Australia with a well-deserved third try and extend their lead.
Finally, the ominous Aussie momentum was extinguished when Ollie Sleightholme scored twice to get England back on the front foot and in the lead once more as the game again fluctuated in a chaotic battle of wills.
With just five minutes remaining, Andrew Kellaway collected a loose ball and powered his way to the try line for Australia’s fourth maximum score after Ben Donaldson’s successful conversion placed the visitors back into a five-point lead.
Refusing to give up the game, Maro Itoje seemingly rescued England in the 78th minute to bring the scores level, and after Smith calmly converted, the hosts sprung into a dramatic lead with just seconds remaining on the clock.
Then, unthinkably, in the final sequence of the game, Len Ikitau silkily offloaded to Max Jorgensen who sprinted clear to score the match-winning try for a jubilant Australia.
ENGLAND EXPOSED AGAIN
On a Saturday evening that saw people up and down the country celebrating bonfire night, there was unfortunately a distinct lack of fireworks in the England performance, with the Twickenham crowd instead forced to once again endure a frustrating display of reoccurring frailties.
The last time England conceded more than 40 points at Twickenham was during their record home defeat, 53-10 by France, during last year’s Six Nations tournament.
The Red Roses bravely engineered opportunities to win the game on multiple occasions, but with the match clock deep in the red zone, they lost control once again on a fatal final play from the Aussies, who displayed a ruthlessly clinical edge throughout, ultimately proving to be the difference between the two teams.
Despite building a promising lead of 12 points in the first quarter and finding themselves ahead with two minutes to play, the game squirmed free of England’s fragile grasp as Ikitau got away from Sleightholme, and Australia’s replacement winger, Jorgensen, gleefully charged through a wall of bodies to triumphantly score in the corner.
Harrowingly, England have now lost their last four international fixtures by excruciating points margins of five, two, seven, and one.
In the immediate fallout, England captain, Jamie George, has resisted the broad prognosis from many pundits that his team’s inability to see out matches is proof of a severe psychological glitch that must be overcome and conquered.
However, until this squad can grind through adversity and hold on to a much-needed victory, it will struggle to dispel this disturbing diagnosis.
Unfortunately, there is no respite for Steve Borthwick’s England side as South Africa are up next and present an ominous test for a team that finds itself badly out of form and lacking belief.
England will now turn their focus to the daunting prospect of taking on the current world champions, who defeated Scotland comfortably in their opening Autumn International
