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:
Problems old and new plague England in latest heartbreaking loss to raise serious questions about future
Another week, another heartbreak for England and now serious questions must be asked about the direction of the Steve Borthwick project as a flawed Australia side exposed familiar failings and shone a light on some new ones for good measure in a helter-skelter thriller of an Autumn Nations Series Test match.
Whereas last week ended with George Ford missing a penalty and drop goal as the All Blacks celebrated, this clash ended with Max Jorgensen streaking clear down the left wing, arm aloft to snatch a 42-37 victory for the Wallabies in a game that England won, then lost, then won before somehow finally losing.
The hosts led by 12 points early on at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, found themselves trailing by 10 early in the second half and the lead then changed hands multiple times in the last 10 minutes but ultimately, Borthwick’s men wilted in the final stages of a Test match on a day when they simply couldn’t afford another narrow defeat but fell to one anyway.
Problems old and new plague England to raise serious questions about future
England 37-42 Australia: The most thrilling of Test matches once again ended with England squandering a late lead as the pressure builds on Steve Borthwick
FULL-TIME! England 37-42 Australia
On TNT, Ugo Monye is far more critical of England than Danny Care, with the former winger saying that it “feels like groundhog day for England”.
“The ending is this continuous nightmare of not closing out a match. It is a real problem and not unlucky anymore. This is a trend that has stuck with England,” he adds.
“Composure and a huge amount of skill and bravery from Australia won them that game. One mistake and the game was over.
FULL-TIME! England 37-42 Australia
Here’s a picture to give you an insight into the offload for the winning try. Lovely stuff.
FULL-TIME! England 37-42 Australia
Jamie George speaks to TNT after what was, in the end, a disappointing result. He says that he thinks “the blueprint to how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes of the game”.
“We took our foot off the gas, you’ve got to give credit to Australia. It’s going to be a tough one to watch back.
“It’s a tough one, it’s a fine balance between closing up shop and trying to see out the game, and attacking.
“Do we need to have a look at that? Potentially.
“What I do know is we’ll have a look at where we went wrong.
“I think the system and the principle all works. Tonight it was collisions.
“Leaking 42 points at home is unacceptable, and a lot of that is down to loss of collisions,” he adds.
FULL-TIME! England 37-42 Australia
A brilliant game for the neutral, and it was a deserved win in the end for the Wallabies, with some great performances from several players.
England started far more brightly, but faded in parts despite some flashes of brilliance and some great forward play.
That is England’s fifth defeat in the last six matches, with South Africa up next a week today.
FULL-TIME! England 37-42 Australia
Such a disappointment for England, but take nothing away from Australia, who fought back brilliantly and showed some real flashes of brilliance.
It doesn’t get any easier for England, who face South Africa next week.
CONVERTED TRY! England 37-42 Australia
84 mins
Heartbreak for England at the last.
The Wallabies continue working it with the forwards until the chance comes to move it wide. They do so quickly while there are gaps in the defence, and it comes to Len Ikitau, who carries hard before slipping it to Jorgensen who is almost unchallenged as he runs in and dives over in the corner!
The conversion goes over and it finishes England 37-42 Australia.
TRY! England 37-40 Australia
83 mins
TRY! And Australia have won it against all odds! What an ending!
England 37-35 Australia
80 mins
Into the last minute now and Itoje loses it forward just after the restart. From the scrum, Cole folds in and it’ll be re-set. Into the red now.
Australia win at the second time of asking. They work a couple of phases and gain a bit of ground, but the ball runs loose and is knocked on for an advantage. Tense times.
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