Australia v England LIVE rugby: Result and reaction as England keep series alive with win
Follow all the reaction from Brisbane as England bounce back with victory over the Wallabies
Owen Farrell kicked 20 points as England took an imposing early lead and held off a spirited Australia fightback to level the three-match series at 1-1 with a 25-17 victory in Brisbane on Saturday.
An early Billy Vunipola try and four penalties had England 19-0 ahead in the 32nd minute and two more three-pointers from Farrell in the second half proved enough for victory.
Australia, 30-28 winners in the series opener last week, scored tries through prop Taniela Tupou and centre Samu Kerevi either side of halftime but were unable to extend their 10-match winning streak at Lang Park.
The third and deciding test takes place at Sydney Cricket Ground next Saturday.
Follow the reaction with our live blog:
South Africa will not take a step back against Wales, insists Handre Pollard
Handre Pollard says South Africa “will not take a step back” as they prepare to meet Wales’ physical approach head-on in the second Test.
The series opener last weekend was decided by a Damian Willemse penalty with the game’s final kick as South Africa edged home 32-29.
The teams meet again in Bloemfontein, when World Cup winner Pollard returns to international action after helping Montpellier land the French Top 14 title.
He has also been handed the captaincy by head coach Jacques Nienaber, leading a Springboks side showing 14 changes following the dramatic success at Loftus Versfeld.
“We know Wales will get under our skin, but we will not take a step back,” fly-half Pollard said. “In fact, that usually brings the best out of us.
“Wales are a tough team. They don’t go away and they are physical, but we are prepared for that. They also have a good tactical game, so it is going to be hard Test rugby, but if there is space out wide we will try to take it.”
South Africa will not take a step back against Wales, insists Handre Pollard
Springboks will clinch a Test series triumph if they win in Bloemfontein.
Wales vs South Africa team news
Wayne Pivac has made just one change to his Wales starting XV from a week ago. Alex Cuthbert comes onto the wing, with Josh Adams dropping to the bench, while Saracens prop Sam Wainwright is in line to win his first cap having been named amongst the replacements.
Things could not be more different in the Springboks camp, however. Jacques Nienaber has made 14 changes, as only Eben Etzebeth remains from the line-up that won the opening Test of the series in Johannesburg.
Handre Pollard comes in at fly-half to captain the side and although there are two uncapped players in the starting team - wing Kurt-Lee Arendse and No 8 Evan Roos - there is also plenty of experience in the line-up. Any team boasting the likes of Pollard, Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel won’t be a pushover...
South Africa: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Kurt Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aphelele Fassi, 10 Handre Pollard (c), 9 Jaden Henrikse; 1 Thomas du Toit, 2 Joseph Dweba, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Marvin Orie, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8 Evan Roos .
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ruan Nortje, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse.
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Dan Biggar (captain), 9 Kieran Hardy; 1 Gareth Thomas, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Dillon Lewis, 4 Will Rowlands, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Taulupe Faletau .
Replacements: 16 Dewi Lake, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Alun Wyn Jones, 20 Josh Navidi, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Josh Adams.
Wales vs South Africa
The next game this afternoon will see Wales take on South Africa in Bloemfontein, looking to bounce back from the disappointment of a week ago and that heartbreaking loss in Pretoria.
Kick-off is around 90 minutes away, so we’ll take you through all the build-up and key storylines before then.
Owen Farrell kicks 20 points as England weather Australia storm to level series
England showed resolve to weather a second-half storm from Australia to clinch a 25-17 victory at Suncorp Stadium that takes their series to a decider in Sydney next Saturday.
Owen Farrell kicks 20 points as England weather Australia storm to level series
Australia 17-25 England: Billy Vunipola scored an early try as England led 19-0 before the Wallabies launched a fightback
On to the decider!
A few injury worries for both sides ahead of the decider in Sydney next week. Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje both did not re-emerge after appearing to suffer brain injuries, and Underhill’s history will almost certainly rule him out of the third Test. Australia, meanwhile, are in real woe - Scott Sio, Cadeyrn Neville, Jordan Petaia and Izaia Perese may all play no further part in the series.
Michael Hooper on Australia’s defeat
“England came out really hot, it was tough to stop them in that part of the game,” the Wallabies skipper begins. “Giving away a 19-point lead, it is always going to be tough to get back into [it].
“We knew they were coming out hard. We wanted to win that battle and I don’t think we did that tonight.
“We’’ll have a look at the tape. We felt heavily penalised in the first half, all our own doing, and they are a really solid team. They took points nearly every time and we can’t give them that access.”
F/T: Australia 17-25 England
That win rather stops the rot for England. Defeat would have been the fourth in a row (five including the non-capped Barbarians fixture) and it looked for a while like they might just contrive to again throw it away.
Owen Farrell also offers some reacton: “A tough Test match. The way we started the game was outstanding. We felt we didn’t throw a punch last week but we started with a bang.
“I just want people to be themselves, free people up. We never really got going last week, but we know what we are capable of. There are a lot of things that we can tidy up in that middle patch of the game, so we will make sure we work on that. Discipline being one, and just to be able to get the momentum back a bit quicker. We need to be smarter, not back up an error with an error.
“I thought the boys who have come in and made their debuts have been outstanding. It is only the start for them. Who knows where they can take it, but I am looking forward to being part of that with them.”
Sky Sports grab Courtney Lawes for a chat
“Really proud of the boys, we stuck in there, we knew they were going to come back at some point and it was tough there for a while, but we came through it,” the England captain says of the performance.
“We have been working hard to get our strategy right and get used to playing together. We showed at the end there that our defence can get us on the front foot, but we let them score too easily - in international rugby, you can’t realy have that. We are glad we could put on a performance for everyone back home.”
F/T: Australia 17-25 England
Rather nervier for England than it looked like it might be after a dominant first half, but Eddie Jones’ side cling on and take the series to a decider. The first half-hour or so was about the best England have played in a long while, full of direction and clarity, but another wobble will be a worry for Jones. Still, they just about closed it out, going back to their power game and the maul, and that is a much-needed win.
Credit to the Wallabies for fighting back into the contest on another night of injury misfortune, but they will rue some basic errors at the set-piece which meant they never quite nudged ahead.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments