England ended their November international campaign on a positive note as they comfortably beat Australia 37-18 at Twickenham on Saturday.
Tries from Jonny May, Elliot Daly, Joe Cokanasiga and Owen Farrell saw England to victory, with Farrell also adding 17 points off the tee.
In reply for Australia their two tries came via Israel Folau as the pressure continues to mount on coach Michael Cheika after a poor 2018.
It was a first-half of two quarters at Twickenham as an impressive opening from England was overshadowed by the Wallabies' late onslaught.
Indeed the hosts started superbly and crossed through May after a solid scrum five metres out led to Ben Youngs putting the finisher over. Farrell landed the touchline extras with ease but the seven-point lead was cut to four shortly after as Matt Toomua landed one from range.
England though were on top in all areas and Farrell added to his tally with a penalty coming after he'd hit the post with an earlier shot.
Full-back Daly was then short with a long-range penalty attempt that prompted the Wallabies into life, a nice interchange seeing tighthead prop Sekope Kepu and centre Samu Kerevi involved before Dane Haylett-Petty went over, only to be denied because of an earlier forward pass.
Australia, unperturbed by that chalked off try, pushed hard in the closing stages of the half and were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty try late on as Farrell's no arm tackle on Izack Rodda was overlooked by referee Jaco Peyper. England survived by leaking just three points.
Coming out for the second-half at 13 points apiece the game was finely poised until Daly hit a fine line off Farrell to go in from halfway. Farrell once again added the conversion to move England 20-13 in front and one sensed the hosts were growing in confidence at Twickenham.
So it proved as Cokanasiga scored on 56 minutes, bumping Haylett-Petty off en route to the line, and he almost had a double soon after but for superb scrambling work from Michael Hooper. England knew they were still not out of sight as Farrell slotted a penalty a few minutes later.
With a 17-point cushion England had a nice lead as Australia attacked late on and turnover ball almost led to May grabbing a second try of the afternoon but for the ball touching the sideline. While the try wasn't awarded it showed real footballing skill from the speedster May.
England weren't done though as George Ford announced his arrival onto the field on 76 minutes by laying on Farrell for their fourth try of the game before Australia had the final say, Haylett-Petty's impressive break leading to Folau collecting a grubber from the recycled ball and dotting down.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: May, Daly, Cokanasiga, Farrell
Cons: Farrell 4
Pens: Farrell 3
For Australia:
Tries: Folau 2
Con: Toomua
Pens: Toomua 2
England: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Te'o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Nathan Hughes, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 George Ford, 23 Manu Tuilagi
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Jack Maddocks, 10 Matt Toomua, 9 Will Genia, 8 Pete Samu, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 6 Jack Dempsey, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Tolu Latu, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Jermaine Ainsley, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Ned Hanigan, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Sefa Naivalu, 23 Marika Koroibete
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistant Referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Alexandre Ruiz (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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