Australia vs England report: Jack Nowell seals record victory Down Under in first Test thriller

Australia 28 England 39: Wallabies outscore England four tries to three but Owen Farrell and Eddie Jones' masterplan sees tourists to victory

Jack de Menezes

Saturday 11 June 2016 13:00 BST

England celebrate after Marland Yarde scores a second try against Australia (Getty)

England won in Australia for just the fourth time in their history after sealing a pulsating 39-28 victory to take a pivotal lead in the three-Test series, with Eddie Jones's revolution pressing on at full speed.

The tourists were in danger of being blown away in the opening 15 minutes as Australia scored two tries against little resistance, but England rallied to lead at half-time through the boot of Owen Farrell and a Jonathan Joseph try.

England pressed on after the break and scored a second try through Marland Yarde, and despite an impressive Australian fightback with a second score for Michael Hooper and a fourth team try - finished by Tevita Kuridrani - Farrell kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Kuridrani's try reduced the lead to seven points and a Bernard Foley penalty set-up a thrilling finish with Australia needing to go the length of the field to win the Test. England turned the ball over however, and Jack Nowell scored on the stroke of the full-time hooter to seal a rare victory Down Under for England.

Israel Folau proved to be the orchestrator of England’s early undoing as he laid on the opening try before scoring the second himself. The gifted full-back, who had been mooted with a potential outing at centre as he has done for the Waratahs this season, isolated Mako Vunipola in front of him and broke through the defensive line. He fed Michael Hooper out on the right wing, and the flanker sidestepped through the first tackle before brought down metres short of the line. The ball was recycled, and debutant Samu Kevisa sucked in Luther Burrell and Anthony Watson to feed Hooper, who duly cantered over the line to score in the corner.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

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1/30Australia vs England first Test player ratings

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

<b>England:</b> 15. Mike Brown – 6 out of 10

Uncharacteristic error led to three points for Foley when Australia were wobbling after he knocked on when unopposed. Has had better days, but still lively with ball in hand.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

14. Anthony Watson – 6 out of 10

Saw extremely little of the ball, and was forced to do the hard yards in chasing kicks for the evening.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

13. Jonathan Joseph – 7 out of 10

Alert enough to seize on Folau’s error and showed his foot skills to dribble the ball, gather and touch down to give England the lead. Defence still needs some work though as Australia found success on his outside shoulder.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

12. Luther Burrell – 5 out of 10

Lucky to get away with a late hit on Hooper, and made sure the obstruction on him from Arnold was spotted to see Foley’s try chalked off. Left the field immediately after though as Jones sacrificed him to sure up the defence.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

11. Marland Yarde – 7 out of 10

Sound defensively as he guarded his channel well, but couldn’t find a way past Haylett-Petty when in space that could have led to a try. Made amends when he finished the second try, and justified his return to the starting XV.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

10. Owen Farrell – 9 out of 10

24 points from the boot continues his incredible season when aiming at goal, but he looked just as assured with the ball in hand regardless of if he was at 10 or 12.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

9. Ben Youngs – 8 out of 10

The scrum-half relieved the pressure for England on a number of occasions as his touch-finding box kicks got his side out of sticky situations. Looks increasingly the starting scrum-half, with Danny Care’s pace able to finish games.

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Australia vs England first Test player ratings

1. Mako Vunipola – 7 out of 10

Managed to get the better of Holmes in the front-row scrum battle and uncharacteristically won the first penalty. Powerful in the loose.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

2. Dylan Hartley – 8 out of 10

Captain fantastic continues his unblemished record as skipper as he led from the front. Accurate with his lineout darts and a unit with the ball in hand.

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Australia vs England first Test player ratings

3. Dan Cole – 7 out of 10

Bore the brunt of Romain Poite’s early frustration but won round the Frenchman to expose Scott Sio. Won the battle when the Australian departed for the sin-bin.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

4. Maro Itoje – 8 out of 10

Announced his arrival in Australia with a crucial turnover on his own line, and a massive presence in the lineout to disrupt the Wallabies on their ball. The question must be asked: will he ever have a bad game?

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

5. George Kruis – 7 out of 10

England lineout general decided to make his presence felt in defence as well as with ball in hand. One charging run bounced off Hooper, and he smashed the flanker soon after to try and slow down the ever-present flanker.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

6. Chris Robshaw – 8 out of 10

Followed in Itoje’s suit early on with an important turnover when Australia had the momentum. Lovely hands to release Yarde shortly before the break, and his work-rate was as high as ever. Continues to justify his place in the back-row

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

7. James Haskell – 9 out of 10

His best outing in an England shirt. Set the tone with a thumping hit on David Pocock in the opening minutes, and his break from a maul led to Yarde’s try.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

8. Billy Vunipola – 7 out of 10

For once it wasn’t the Billy Vunipola show, though that says more about his team-mates stepping up to be counted. Didn’t have to be depended on as much due to England’s dominance up front, and was replaced late on by Joe Launchbury as he ran out of legs.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

<b>Australia:</b> 15. Israel Folau – 8 out of 10

Brilliant first 15 minutes was undone by his poor pass that led to Joseph’s try. Still, that on error didn’t cost Australia the match entirely, and he essentially created a potential 21 points for the Wallabies through his try and the two he created for Hooper – if only Bernard Foley had brought his kicking boots.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

14. Dane Haylett-Petty – 8 out of 10

A debut to remember from the wing and it’s a shame that he ended up on the losing side. Four early carries saw him come in-field to hunt down the ball, and he looked at home on the international stage. Only blemish came in missing a tackle on Haskell.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

13. Tevita Kuridrani – 7 out of 10

Guilty of spurning a chance to score after Folau’s break, though duly made amends a minute later by crashing over. Caused England problems early on, though he did fade towards the final quarter.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

12. Samu Kerevi – 7 out of 10

Laid a try on a plate for Hooper after drawing in Burrell and Watson, though he should have gathered the ball in the seconds before Joseph’s try.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

11. Rob Horne – 5 out of 10

Took a heavy hit to the head in a collision with Hartley that forced him off the field. Replaced by Christian Lealiifano to trigger a reshuffle in the Australian back line.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

10. Bernard Foley – 7 out of 10

Brilliant with the ball in hand but there’s no looking past the fact that had he brought his kicking boots –and had a bit of luck – Australia could have been out of sight by the half hour marked. Missed three kicks at goal that, had Farrell been in the gold No 10 shirt, you’d expect to sail through the posts.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

9. Nick Phipps – 6 out of 10

Quiet game in terms of breaking from the base but he did provide quick ball for the backs to play with.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

1. Scott Sio – 5 out of 10

Comprehensively lost the scrum battle with Cole and spent 10 minutes in the cooler as a result, with the prop failing to return to the match afterwards.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

2. Stephen Moore – 6 out of 10

Fears of an off-day in the lineout after missing his first throw were put to bed, but while he was effective in defence and provided quick support at rucks, he only lasted 57 minutes.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

3. Greg Holmes – 6 out of 10

Held his own against Vunipola initially only to concede ground as Australia’s pack began to struggle. Rather anonymous in the loose.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

4. Rory Arnold – 6 out of 10

Guilty of an intentional block on Burrell to see Foley’s try disallowed, and for all his 6ft 10in frame, he failed to impose himself on England’s powerful pack.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

5. Rob Simmons – 5 out of 10

Landed awkwardly in a lineout and appeared to injure his leg. Hobbled off the field, leading to James Horwill’s early return to the Australian fold.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

6. Scott Fardy – 6 out of 10

Impressive with the ball in hand as he always looked to charge forwards, but conceded a penalty in midfield that led to Yarde’s try and wasn’t at his absolute best defensively

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

7. Michael Hooper – 8 out of 1

Linked well with Folau twice to score the opening try and was a nuisance in the ruck. On hand to expertly finish in the second half and trigger the Wallaby fightback, though he took some punishment as the England defence targeted him.

Australia vs England first Test player ratings

8. David Pocock – 7 out of 1

Didn’t get his timing and entry right in the first half as he conceded points through the form of penalties at the ruck. Wore a huge tackle from Haskell inside the first few minutes, but was outshone by the English back-row on a disappointing day.

Minutes later, Folau was at it again. Australia made immediate progress down the right through another debutant in the impressive Dane Haylett-Petty, and when they spun the ball back left, Bernard Foley delayed his pass to catch Farrell in two minds. The split-second of indecision allowed Folau to get on his outside shoulder and sprint through to score Australia’s second try inside 15 minutes.

Foley missed both kicks though and it proved costly. Three penalties from Farrell chipped away at the lead, and despite Australia dominating the early exchanges, the tourists seized the lead shortly after the half hour mark. Having starred during the first 30 minutes, Folau turned villain as his careless pass left Foley unable to take the ball. Jonathan Joseph, his eyes wide with the opportunity presented to him, took advantage of Kerevi failing to collect the ball and fly-hacked it forwards before gathering to score next to the posts.

Michael Hooper is tackled by George Kruis (Getty)

Farrell added the conversion and his boot stretched the lead on the stroke of half-time to send England in with a 19-13 lead, with Foley finally finding his kicking boots to add a penalty of his own minutes before. However, Foley had a try correctly chalked off the scoreboard when they were leading 10-9 after Burrell was obstructed by Rory Arnold, and Burrell would be hauled off immediately after in a tactical switch by Jones.

England picked up where they left off after the break and were over for their second try within six minutes of the restart. After winning a penalty just inside the Australian half, Farrell turned down a long-range shot at goal to kick towards the corner. The gamble paid off.

Jonathan Joseph scored England's first try after a mistake from Israel Folau (Getty)

Man-of-the-match James Haskell found a gap near the fringe of the lineout drive to break towards the line, with the Wasps forward hauled down agonisingly short of the line. But England refused to panic, a sigh rarely seen during the Stuart Lancaster reign that will be defined by missed opportunities, and the replacement George Ford – on as an early tactical switch for Burrell – floated a beautiful 15-metre pass to the unmarked Yarde, allowing the Harlequins wing to go over and stretch the lead.

Farrell added another three points after Scott Sio had been sent to the sin-bin and Scott Fardy was penalised for collapsing a maul, but the Wallabies would hit back – and then some.

George Ford and Marland Yarde celebrate after Jonathan Joseph scores a try (Getty)

Fardy made amends for the penalty by rampaging down the left into England’s red zone. The ball was spread right, and with the back line coming onto the ball from deep, an excellent running line from Foley allowed him to suck in the defence. He passed to Folau, who committed Watson, and Hooper cropped up on the wing once again to faint inside before beating Chris Robshaw for pace and dive in for his second.

Australia then spurned a great chance to score as Folau surged clear on the right wing. His pass inside allowed the England cover defence to scramble back, and Kuridrani was guilty of white-line fever as he went it alone, only to fail in reaching the line. The giant centre would make amends though a minute later, as from the resulting penalty he crashed over from close range to make it a seven-point game with nine minutes left on the clock.

Maro Itoje urges his England team-mates on (Getty)

That lead was soon down to four points as Foley kicked a penalty – Australia clearly favouring a victory over a possible draw – but unlike England, their gamble would not pay off. England sent the restart deep, and with two minutes on the clock, challenged the home side to go the length of the field to win the game. They nearly did.

Folau continued to rack up the yards as he took the Wallabies out of their own 22, and Haylett-Petty ensured the progress up-field ad England on the ropes. However, his offload inside to Kuridrani was dropped forwards, and the ball was popped up off the deck to an alert Care who surged into the Australian 22. The replacement scrum-half was just caught by the covering defence, but the ball came back to Ford to send a delicate chip over the defence and present the opportunity for replacement wing Nowell to touch down in the corner and spark wild celebrations, Farrell capping off the performance but adding the touchline conversion.

Jack Nowell dives over the line to score the third try for England (Getty)

The victory means England take a 1-0 advantage to Melbourne, where the two sides meet again next Saturday in the Cook Cup second Test at the AAMI Park in what could prove to be a first series win Down Under for England.

Teams:

Australia: Folau; Haylett-Petty, Kuridrani, Kerevi, Horne (Lealiifano, 29); Foley, Phipps (Frisby, 78); Sio (Slipper, 66), Moore (Polota-Nau, 57), Holmes (Kepu, 57), Arnold (Mumm, 48), Simmons (Horwill, 25), Fardy (McMahon, 68), Hooper, Pocock.

England: Brown; Watson (Nowell, 70), Joseph, Burrell (Ford, 29), Yarde; Farrell, Youngs (Care, 72); M Vunipola (Mullan, 66), Hartley (Cowan-Dickie, 72), Cole (Hill, 66), Itoje, Kruis (Lawes, 60), Robshaw, Haskell, B Vunipola (Launchbury, 73).

Scorers:

Australia: Tries: Hooper 2, Folau, Kuridrani. Con: Foley. Pens: Foley 2

England: Tries: Joseph, Yarde, Nowell. Cons: Farrell 3. Pens: Farrell 6

Att: 52,500

Referee: R Poite (France)

Match rating: 9

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