Autumn Nations Series: England 37 Australia 42
Max Jorgensen’s last-gasp try gave Joe Schmidt’s Australia a dramatic 42-37 victory over England on Saturday in a frenetic 10-try match that saw the lead change hands four times in a breathtaking final 15 minutes.
England thought they had snatched it when Marcus Smith converted Maro Itoje’s 78th-minute score, only for the irrepressible Wallabies to dig deep and somehow grab the upset win.
It was only their second victory in 12 games against England and first in five at Twickenham since their 2015 World Cup pool win, and left the hosts shaking their heads after a fourth successive defeat.
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Unlike in the last three against New Zealand, England did, as promised, keep playing in the last quarter, but unfortunately for them, so did Australia, who got their grand slam tour off to a spectacular start.
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England had opened up with a superb try after five minutes. Ollie Lawrence, who barely touched the ball last week, collected a low, probing Smith kick and, six, crisp passes later Chandler Cunningham-South dived over.
Seven minutes later the flanker got his second, catching the Australian defence cold by charging over from a tap penalty after another sharp Smith break.
England lost flanker Tom Curry, knocked out by a knee to the head making a tackle, after 23 minutes and it seemed to unsettle them as Australia, playing with real ambition and adventure, took control, albeit helped by a blizzard of missed tackles.
A sublime no-look one-handed pop pass by centre Joseph Suaalii, the 21-year-old rugby league convert playing his first senior game in union, sent fullback Tom Wright over before Tate McDermott, on as a blood replacement at scrumhalf, then made an immediate impact with a great dart to feed Harry Wilson for a second.
More pressure earned a penalty that Noah Lolesio popped over to somehow put them 20-18 ahead at half-time and leave the Twickenham crowd collectively scratching their heads in bemusement.
Australia started the second half strongly and lock Jeremy Williams produced an acrobatic winger-style finish to touch down in the corner for their third try.
England had gone from 12 points ahead to 10 behind either side of half-time, but, unlike in most of their recent games, they did keep pressing and found the scores needed.
They closed the gap with a first international try for replacement wing Ollie Sleightholme after a deft Smith grubber.
They then edged ahead with Sleightholme’s second try after a quick lineout and a driving run by the impressive Lawrence, with Smith converting to make it 30-28 with 10 minutes to go.
A bungled pass on halfway was then scooped up by Australia winger Andrew Kellaway who raced clear, with Ben Donaldson converting for a two-point lead.
England hit straight back though, Itoje reaching over to level and Smith nailed the conversion and the crowd celebrating what they thought was a victory.
Australia, however, refused to lie down, forging forward with a series of scrums with the clock in the red then blasting clear as Len Ikitau offloaded brilliantly for replacement Jorgensen to race clear and gleefully dive over the line.
England next face world champions South Africa at Twickenham next Saturday, while Australia play Wales on Sunday.
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