Australia v England LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as England win deciding Test
Follow live updates as England beat Australia in a huge series decider at the Sydney Cricket Ground
England outwitted and outfought an error-prone Australia 21-17 to win their July series 2-, a second success for northern hemisphere rugby after Ireland’s earlier triumph over the All Blacks.
Young guns Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith scored the tries and England’s streetwise pack bossed the breakdown as coach Eddie Jones masterminded a second series victory over his own country after their 3-0 sweep in 2016.
Australia scored tries through Tom Wright and Folau Fainga’a in front of a sellout crowd of 43,274 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, but the home side’s accuracy deserted them too frequently at crucial moments.
Australia won the opening test 30-28 in Perth but England struck back with a 25-17 victory in Brisbane to take the series to Saturday’s decider.
Follow live reaction from the Australia vs England series decider below:
South Africa 17-14 Wales, 49 minutes
Delightful counter-attacking from Willie Le Roux, rolling back the years as he peels up the right touchline, chipping deftly beyond. Liam Williams hurries across to prevent his fellow full-back from completing a fine solo score.
Charged down! Eben Etzebeth gets his huge forearms in front of Kieran Hardy’s clearance and then drives Dan Biggar over his own line. Biggar somehow smuggles the ball away to a teammate, but back comes Le Roux.
PENALTY! South Africa 17-14 WALES (Dan Biggar penalty, 48 minutes)
40 out, but bang in front - nothing to particularly trouble Dan Biggar.
South Africa 17-11 Wales, 47 minutes
This is sloppy stuff from the Springboks. They first close the gap at the lineout and are free-kicked, before making a mess of their catch of Dan Biggar’s high bomb. To compound the error, a South African defender is offside. A broad grin spreads across the face of Alun Wyn Jones as Biggar lines up a shot at three more points.
South Africa 17-11 Wales, 45 minutes
A scrum penalty to Wales! Another feather in the cap of Sam Wainwright, who forces Trevor Nyakane to infringe...
And from the field. The entirety of the South African front row is going off, in fact, as the so-called “Bomb Squad” are introduced: on come messrs Marx, Kitshoff and Koch for Bongi Mbonambi, Nyakane and Frans Malherbe.
No try! South Africa 17-11 Wales, 44 minutes
Sharp interplay from South Africa and they strike back immediately!
Or do they? There’s a forward pass in the build-up, surely?...
Yes, there is. Brett Cronan has spotted it, as has Dan Biggar, and both the TMO and the Welsh captain make sure that Matthew Carley is aware of it - one rather more forcefully than the other.
A bit of a shame, because that was a lovely variation from South Africa - Lukhanyo Am had stepped in at scrum-half with Jaden Hendrikse hiding on the right wing. Am drove a lovely flat pass out to his scrum-half, who jinked by a defender and then popped back to his teammate - but Hendrikse’s hands rather pushed the ball forwards to Am, and the try is rightly chalked off.
PENALTY! South Africa 17-11 WALES (Dan Biggar penalty, 42 minutes)
Biggar duly knocks the penalty between the posts.
South Africa 17-8 Wales, 41 minutes
Immediate joy for Wales - Pieter-Steph du Toit holds on and squirms away from a Welsh jackaler on the floor, and Dan Biggar will have a chance to narrow the gap to six.
Second half
A pair of half-time changes for Wales: Dewi Lake and Sam Wainwright are on as Wayne Pivac looks to steady the front row, with Ryan Elias and Dillon Lewis not re-emerging.
Can they make an impact? It’ll be require a huge effort from Wales if they are to haul themselves back into this one.
H/T: South Africa 17-8 Wales
Neither side has been helped by the pitch: for it to churn up at scrum time is one thing, but a number of players have also looked unsure of their footing in the open field. It’s not helping things at the ruck, either - the breakdowns have been particularly messy at times. It isn’t a great look.
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