A rugged England side shook off the disappointment of their Dublin nightmare by claiming the scalp of World and Tri-Nations champions Australia with a gutsy 21-15 triumph at Twickenham on Saturday, despite being outscored two tries to nil by the Wallabies.
Retaining the Cook Cup they won last year, England's hero was Jonny Wilkinson, as his five penalties and two drop-goals saw them triumphant in a game where their superb 15-0 first half performance was blighted by a jittery second period as a "Jekyll and Hyde" Australia were denied by some stern defence, and superb goal-kicking.
Even second-half tries from Matt Burke and replacement flanker Phil Waugh weren't enough to obliterate the first half lead racked up by a superb England, helped largely by Kyran Bracken's recall at scrum-half, and an added thrust from a dynamic pack including Leicester prop Graham Rowntree and clubmate Ben Kay in the second-row.
Last year's argument that England beat a below-strength Wallaby team can well and truly be thrown out of the window after this latest win, as both Gregan and Larkham took the field, but both failed to light the fuse for most of the game, as their stale midfield produced lateral running patterns and frequent breaches of the rules at the breakdown.
Credit to their defence, which kept out an occasionally dynamic, but sometimes headstrong England attack, with Luger, Robinson and Greenwood all breaking their line on more than one occasion, but being foiled by the numbers of cover tacklers near the Wallaby line.
Much pre-match attention in the Wallaby camp had been focused on the comparative inadequacies of Jason Robinson in the England No.15 shirt, but the Sale Sharks Rugby League convert silenced the doubters in the very first minute with a plunging take to claim his first up-and-under.
From then on, the first-half was dominated in total by the English, whose bullying and possession control in the pack kept the Wallabies constantly on the back foot.
It was only three minutes into the game when that physical upper hand manifested itself on the scoreboard, a 50 metre penalty from Jonny Wilkinson injecting adrenalin into the full Twickenham stadium, on what was a surprisingly mild day given the recent cold snap in the English capital.
Two quickfire drop-goals from Wilkinson put England even further ahead, and what was even more surprising than the total supremacy of the England tight five, was the total and utter capitulation early on of the Australian's cohesion, so apparent in their Lions' series win.
Owen Finegan's dismissal into the sin-bin on 13 minutes for bringing down Danny Grewcock in the lineout did not help matters, but with their constant indiscretions in the tight, referee Paddy O'Brien was spot on in his penalising of the back-row, who spent large portions of the game on the wrong side of the ruck.
The England pressure during that first 40 was immense, helped in large parts by the energetic of play of Kyran Bracken, who was constantly at the breakdown, and showed a neat range in short breaks as his passing gave Jonny Wilkinson that extra yard of thinking time which had been so lacking in Dublin only three weeks earlier.
A missed Matt Burke penalty from the left touchline was the only Australian moment of note from a first half which saw them go in 15-0 down, limited to thumping clearing punts from Latham and Burke, with new captain George Gregan left marshalling a pack which always seemed to be second in terms of dynamism, thrust, and crucially discipline.
It was a different looking Australia which came out for the second half, not in personnel, but in demeanour. Their heads were up, and the world champions went about redressing the imbalance in the scoreline when Matt Burke turned down an easy shot at goal -- after missing one just before.
Instead he went for the touchline, and from the lineout the damage was done as they cut into England's lead. The ball was transferred through the hands via Gregan and Nathan Grey, and with Roff cutting into the line, it found its way to Burke out wide, the fullback evading the tackle of Jason Robinson to touch down in the right corner for a fluid score, Burke himself converting from the touchline for a 15-7 scoreline.
England's passing dropped a notch, and the certainty with which they went about their business in the first half was diluted as Burke nailed a penalty to further rein them in, with George Gregan becoming his snappy self around the fringes of the ruck.
This England team are a stern breed though, and their resilience came to the fore with two more penalties from Wilkinson to pin the Wallabies back to an 11 point deficit, as the comparatively quiet Toutai Kefu showed some of his undoubted mettle.
It was to get worse for England, who like Australia in the first half were reduced to punting from within their 22, and it was one of those desperate clearance kicks from the subdued Austin Healey in his own dead ball area which started the move from which the Wallabies got their second try.
The ensuing move saw England concede a penalty five metres fro their own line as the Wallabies pressed, and with captain Gregan going for touch, the lineout which followed set up a move from under the posts, as Gregan passed right, the ball eventually going to prop Nic Stiles, who put in replacement openside Phil Waugh to the right corner for the diving try.
Burke missed the conversion from way out wide though, leaving England hanging onto their 21-15 lead, and setting up a nervy finish.
Hold out they did though, and despite not managing to breach the Wallaby tryline, the English kept their proud recent record going against Australia, who now head to France as they aim to get back on winning ways after the retirement of John Eales.
Man of the match: Kyran Bracken. Cast into the apparent international wilderness after the previous form of Matt Dawson, and some bad injuries which kept him away from the immediate fray of the national team, Bracken marshalled the forwards and gave valuable ball to the backs with necessary confidence and authority. His strong running around the fringes was a constant thorn in Wallaby sides, and Matt Dawson will have to go some way to displace Bracken from the England team in future years if the Saracen continues in this vein. Other contenders for man of the match include Graham Rowntree, the returning Leicester prop who added vital thrust from loosehead, both in the set piece and in the loose. Jason Robinson hardly put a foot wrong at fullback, and candidates from the Wallaby team could arguably include Chris Latham, whose defensive punting showed real skill, despite their attacking options being limited to their two tries in the second half.
Moment of the match: Matt Burke's try. Coming in the 49th minute at 15-0 down, Australia could have gone for the easy three points from a penalty, but taking the game by the scruff of the neck, their decision to go for the lineout deserves praise. That faith in attack was justified, as from the lineout the ball went through the hands to put Burke in at the right corner, the NSW Waratah nailing the conversion from the touchline as their gameplan finally got off the ground. This one passage of play turned the balance of the match, and could well have seen the Wallabies to victory.
Villain of the match: Owen Finegan. The Brumbies' blindside cynically brought down Danny Grewcock in a 13th minute lineout, an unnecessary indiscretion at a time when England were just getting going. Finegan was rightly sin-binned for his dangerous play as Grewcock crashed to the floor from a great height, and could have even seen red in the second half if referee Paddy O'Brien -- who had an excellent match -- had deemed fit to give him a second yellow for repeating the offence.
Sin-bin: Finegan (Aus, 13-23 mins)
The teams:
Australia: 1 Ben Darwin, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 David Giffin, 5 Justin Harrison, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves: Matt Cockbain, Rod Moore, Graeme Bond, Phil Waugh
Unused: Brendan Cannon, Elton Flatley, Chris Whitaker
England: 1 Graham Rowntree, 2 Dorian West, 3 Phil Vickery, 4 Ben Kay, 5 Danny Grewcock, 6 Neil Back (c), 7 Richard Hill, 8 Joe Worsley, 9 Half Kyran Bracken, 10 Jonny Wilkinson, 11 Austin Healey, 12 Mike Catt, 13 Will Greenwood, 14 Dan Luger, 15 Jason Robinson
Unused: Jason Leonard, Matt Perry, Mark Regan, Steve Borthwick, Ben Cohen, Charlie Hodgson,, Lewis Moody
Referee: Paddy O'Brien (NZ)
Touchjudges: André Watson (SA), Didier Méné (France)
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Burke M.C. 1, Waugh P.R. 1
Conv: Burke M.C. 1
Pen K.: Burke M.C. 1
England
Pen K.: Wilkinson J.P. 5
Drop G.: Wilkinson J.P. 2
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