England v Australia LIVE rugby: Result and reaction after Wallabies snatch victory in Twickenham thriller

Australia have thrown rugby league convert Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii straight into their starting side for the clash with England.

Suaalii is yet to feature in a senior game of rugby union but is backed at outside centre by Wallabies boss Joe Schmidt after making a shock switch of codes ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.

His inclusion in midfield is the sole change to the side that began Australia’s final Rugby Championship clash with New Zealand as Schmidt sticks with a settled team.

Jake Gordon and Noah Lolesio continue in the halves while Harry Wilson retains the captaincy at No 8.

Steve Borthwick has kept faith with the same starting side as his England team look to bounce back against Australia, while replacement hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie is set for his first appearance under the head coach.

England suffered another narrow defeat to the All Blacks in their Autumn Nations Series opener, but Borthwick has resisted the urge to make radical changes.

His sole alteration to the starting fifteen is a swap of centres with Henry Slade now wearing 12 and Ollie Lawrence 13. The rest of the run-on side is identical to that which began at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham a week ago.

The bench is reshuffled, though, with the six/two split favoured last week abandoned for a traditional combination of five forwards and three backs. Ollie Sleightholme is recalled to the squad after impressing in his debut series in New Zealand in the summer, and Cowan-Dickie takes the place of Theo Dan.

Ollie Lawrence admits he is stepping into the unknown when he takes on Australia’s rugby league superstar Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii today.

England centre Lawrence lines up opposite Suaalii after the 21-year-old was given his Test debut less than a month after switching to union from NRL side Sydney Roosters for £2.7m.

It is hoped that Suaalii will help lift the Wallabies out of the doldrums in time for next year’s British and Irish Lions tour amid predictions Down Under that he will become their most successful cross-code convert yet.

Lawrence insists that preparing to face a player with no union experience since representing Australia Under-18s presents a challenge.

“It’s obviously difficult because he’s just switched codes and so we’ve been looking at the league side of things,” the Bath centre said. “I’ve seen a lot of his footy over the years and he’s been an incredible player in league.

“If you just look at his stature, he’s a big lad at 6ft 5ins and he’s quick, so you know you have to take time and space away from him as quickly as possible. There’s definitely a bit of unknown about him and we don’t know how he will step up, but I’m excited to go up against world-class players. Like we do for every opposition, we look at their strengths and weakness and look where we can go after them.”

England face Australia at Twickenham this afternoon desperate to put the disappointment of the narrow defeat by New Zealand behind them.

They went down 24-22 to the All Blacks last weekend but had more than their fair share of chances to win the match, including George Ford missing both a penalty and a drop-goal attempt late on.

Steve Borthwick’s side have now lost four of their last five games, albeit three of those defeats came against New Zealand, but should view this weekend’s game as an opportunity to get a win on the board.

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Australia are not the force of old and what was once a fierce rivalry is now anything but with the Wallabies winning just one of their last 11 meetings dating back to 2016.

Only a 30-28 loss in Perth in 2022 interrupts England’s dominance of the fixture and with the tourists finishing bottom of the recent Rugby Championship, there is little evidence that a revival is imminent, even with astute former Ireland boss Joe Schmidt at the helm.

Wendell Sailor, Lote Tuqiri and Israel Folau are among the big-name rugby league stars who became celebrated Wallabies, but Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii is being tipped to outshine them all.

Suaalii makes his first senior appearance in union less than a month after switching from the NRL, where his athleticism, physical prowess and skills marked him out as a special talent from the moment he made his debut as a 17-year-old.

Now 21 and benefiting from a £2.7m contract, cash-strapped Rugby Australia are eager to see if their investment will pay off with the 2025 Lions tour and 2027 home World Cup on the horizon.

Luke Cowan-Dickie will make his first Test appearance for two years if he steps off the bench on Saturday, ending a challenging spell for the Lions hooker.

Neck surgery that went wrong caused nerve damage in his arm that took over a year to heal and he also spent time out with atrial fibrillation, a heart condition.

But having made a full recovery and given up gaming – Call of Duty was his poison – as well as alcohol, he is poised to add ballast to England’s scrum at a stage of the game where it was found wanting against New Zealand.

“Cohesion and clarity” is the principle underpinning Steve Borthwick’s selection policy, resulting in an unchanged side being picked to take on the Wallabies.

The only adjustment is a midfield positional switch that sees Ollie Lawrence move to outside centre, where he is at his most dangerous for Bath, and Henry Slade take the number 12 jersey.

It is a variation designed to bring out the best in Lawrence in attack, both in the volume and impact of his carries.

Following a 24-22 defeat to New Zealand in last Saturday’s opener, England are already on the back foot in their pursuit of an acceptable return from the autumn.

Australia’s visit to Twickenham is must-win territory given that world champions South Africa provide the campaign’s box office fixture a week later.

Three victories in the four Tests – Japan complete the series on November 23 – would be a respectable pass mark, anything less and Steve Borthwick will face urgent questions over the team’s direction of travel.

Jamie George recognises Danny Care’s damning assessment of Eddie Jones’ England regime but insists the Australian’s contribution to the national team is reflected in his success.

Danny Care, who won 101 caps until his international retirement earlier this year, is highly critical of Jones in his autobiography Everything Happens for a Reason, claiming that “everyone was bloody terrified of him”.

The Harlequins scrum-half added that Jones’ England environment was “like living in a dictatorship, under a despot who disappeared people”.