Man of the Match Ben Morgan scores the first of his two tries at Twickenham

by Paul Cook –

Missed opportunities, handling errors, scrum woes and poor discipline. Sounds like the template for much of the Wallabies 2014 season as yet another nearly men script was written at Twickenham in the final test of the year.

England eventually won it 26-17 to leave the Wallabies with the unwanted distinction of being the worst performed side to tour Europe from Australia since 2005 but again, as they had against Ireland and less so France, they fostered enough chances to have turned a close run loss into a hard earned victory.

An early Bernard Foley penalty gave them the lead but after a bright start, England then controlled proceedings up until the break, their forward power to the fore as they opened up a 13-3 advantage. Foley struck himself after the restart after good link-up play with Rob Horne and another try apiece left the game in the balance on the hour at 20-17 in favour of the hosts.

However, poor execution cost the Wallabies a potential match winner and when it came to closing out the win, England had the better game smarts to get the job done, something they had failed to do in previous weeks against both New Zealand and South Africa.

The Wallabies were gifted the perfect start, two cheap penalties in quick succession leaving Foley with a simple kick from in front to open the scoring after two minutes.

Rob Horne was one of the Wallabies’ best as they went down to another narrow defeat in London

England countered with a couple of incursions down either wing and when Sekope Kepu came in from the side, flyhalf George Ford levelled the scoreboard.

With England keen to play the game at pace and adopting the Irish tactic of arial bombardment and quick line speed, the Wallabies were pinned back in their own half for large parts of the opening quarter of an hour. But it was that frustratingly trademark indiscipline that cost them the next points, Ben McCalman blocking a surge from English fullback Mike Brown and Ford slotting the penalty.

A half break from Israel Folau soon had the visitors on the front foot and when the ball went wide, Adam Ashley-Cooper dummied to spin his way close to the chalk only for Courtney Lawes to execute a textbook try saver to force a knock-on and leave Ashley-Cooper in some discomfort from a heavy landing.

The ensuing 5 metre scrum gave England a chance to assert their expected forward dominance, a powerful drive earning a penalty that allowed them to clear their lines. As the game entered the second quarter, England’s attack was playful enough to foster the odd half chance but – and it is a criticism consistently levelled at Stuart Lancaster’s side – they lacked the execution to make good on their opportunities.

Australia meanwhile, were struggling to find space as England continued to choke them behind the gain line, Lawes in particular, having a boon afternoon in terms of his tackle count. But with players like Folau, Ashley-Cooper, Foley, Rob Horne and Henry Speight, they still possessed that extra x-factor that threatened to unlock the door should England let down their guard.

As it was, a contribution from Folau did lead to the first try, unfortunately for the star fullback, it was in England’s favour. Failing to mop up a clearing kick from Ford, Folau knocked on to give England the put in at a scrum 25 metres out and they grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

Marching the Wallaby pack a good 10 metres, a penalty was imminent but the home side wanted more, scrumhalf Ben Youngs picking his moment to feed infield where a couple of surges freed up Tom Wood to put a rampaging Ben Morgan over near the posts.

George Ford has been entrusted with the no.10 jersey as England look to build towards the 2015 World Cup

Ford’s conversion opened up a 13-3 lead as the half hour mark was reached and despite the efforts of the abrasive Sean McMahon and the hard working Matt Toomua, the Wallabies couldn’t find the breakthrough they wanted. Handling errors suddenly became rife as England ramped up the pressure, affording Nick Phipps precious little time to ignite his backline and as the teams trudged to the sheds for half-time, only a few inches spared the tourists from a greater deficit as Ford failed to punish a Sam Carter indiscretion.

When the flyhalf pushed another one wide after the restart, after Luke Jones, on for the injured Rob Simmons, illegally disrupted an English drive, a potentially damaging 16pt advantage had been passed up. What Ford brings to the table in terms of creativity perhaps comes at the expense of Owen Farrell’s kicking prowess.

It was a let-off that awoke Australia from their attacking slumber and finally, on 45 minutes, they found the gaps they’d been probing for to open their five point account. When it came, it was a relatively simple play, Foley putting Horne through a gap before backing up off his Waratah team mate’s shoulder to run home under the posts.

The successful conversion proved to be Foley’s last action, Quade Cooper entrusted with marshalling the troops home for the final 35 minutes, and he was soon joined by Nic White as his halves partner as Cheika gave the tireless but effectively harangued Phipps an early bath.

Cooper was called upon in a defensive sense in the 55th minute, Mike Brown putting a grubber kick down his throat and in goal as Jonny May and friends bore down on him and although he stood up to the challenge, he was unable to prevent England from earning the significant platform of a 5 metre scrum.

The whole of Twickenham knew what was coming, 80,000 roaring the Red Rose pack on as it drove forward on engagement and as the Wallabies splintered to one side, no.8 Morgan did well to keep the ball at his feet before scooping up and diving home for his second.

If England thought they had set themselves up for a picture book finish to their international year, they hadn’t factored in Will Skelton to the equation, the giant loose forward coming on to devastating effect to keep his side in the hunt as the Wallabies hit straight back. Patient phase play stretched the English line and edged Australia inside the 22 before a pop pass from White found Skelton skittling three defenders to plunder his second test try.

Will Skelton smashes through three English defenders to find the line for his second test try

Ford edged the hosts back to a 6pt lead as his indomitable forwards forced yet another penalty from a lineout drive but as England’s set-piece continued to be their main threat, the Wallabies, with Kurtley Beale also joining the fray, looked to still have a few tricks up their sleeve.

Their chance came in the 72nd minute, a penalty kicked to touch saw the English pack try to drive the Wallaby maul off the park but as the visitors deflected sideways with ball intact, there were now spaces to exploit with England’s big boppers momentarily out of the frame.

Cooper and Beale took it to the line to suck in more defenders and when Folau saw Horne on his own hugging the touchline, all that was needed was an accurate pass and the centre turned winger would have been in. Instead, the release from his fullback was a touch too high and the ball drifted agonisingly from his grasp with the line begging.

The match winning play came with 5 minutes remaining and it was another psychological blow from England’s forwards that earned it. A scrum penalty gave them a platform just inside their own half from where they mauled the Wallabies backwards almost 30 metres, much to the enjoyment of the Twickenham faithful.

Finally spreading it infield, a penalty from an Australian side under enormous pressure was exactly the reward they sought and Ford stepped up to leave the visitors trailing at 26-17 and needing two scores in four minutes to salvage a win.

It proved to be a rescue mission too far and while England finally tasted victory over one of the Southern Hemisphere’s big three to get their World Cup preparations back on track, the Wallabies and Michael Cheika return home in the knowledge that there is plenty of work to do over the next eleven months if they are to return to Twickenham and triumph when it truly matters on October 3rd 2015.

England 26 (Ben Morgan 2 tries; George Ford 2 cons, 4 pens) defeated Australia 17 (Bernard Foley, Will Skelton try; con, pen, Quade Cooper con)