Match Details

England

VS

Qantas Wallabies

21

Twickenham, London Kick off times: 6:30am (Local) Sat 10 Nov

15

A year ago, the Wallabies had travelled to Twickenham and had been beaten by a last second and very controversial try. They had put up with English taunts - and now the time had come for revenge under Eddie Jones on a sunny but cold London afternoon.The English had made a lot of changes since their shock loss to the Irish, the Wallabies were unchanged from their record breaking game against Spain. It was 8 degrees, there was little wind to worry about and as the formalities ended and the smoke from the fireworks cleared, Paddy O`Brien got the game under way on Remembrance Day 2001.

Giffin stole the first lineout of the game as both teams gained their feet, but it was the English who drew first blood when Wilkinson took a penalty from 50m out and was successful in the 3rd minute. Two minutes later it was another penalty shot for Wilkinson but his wobbly kick from far out on the right flank missed.

It was all the English in the first 10 minutes, the Wallabies hardly touched the ball and were being hammered by the whistle.From a lineout 25m out the English drove it forward but surprisingly Wilkinson went for the drop goal and made it a 6-0. To make matters worse, Finegan was sinbinned in the 12th minute for dangerous play in the lineout and it had been a shocking start to such an important game as Wilkinson landed a 2nd drop goal minutes later. On the rare occasions that the Wallabies had the ball they kicked it away and were unable to mount any pressure. We were being thrashed in the lineouts, had conceded 7 penalties to nil and another Wilkinson penalty put us 12 points behind after only 17 minutes. A much needed lineout win by Harrison gave the backs their first real touch of the leather but it was soon turned over and it was a lineout only metres from the goal line, the English deep in attack.

For the first time in the game the English chose to run it forward, looking for the gap but the Wallabies defence were covering well as the ball criss crossed the field only 15 metres out and after 8 phases they cleared as Finegan came back on. Finally it was the Wallabies on attack as Grey found some room on the left. They made it to 22 for the first time in the game and with 28 minutes on the clock Matt Burke lined up for his first kick on the goals - but missed, and that summed up the Wallabies first half. With 30 minutes on the clock and the crowd urging them on, the English assaulted the Wallabies defence again. Robinson had plenty of run and once more it was the visitors defending on the goal line until Latham cleared to midfield. A driving maul took England forward again before Wilkinson tried another drop goal, this time it was charged down.The Wallabies were constantly under pressure, their only option being to kick the ball away and wait for the next offensive charge. An offside infringement by the Wallabies saw Wilkinson line up for another three pointer from out in front and he made it 15-0.

The English were controlling the game with lots of possession, lots of different attacking options and had racked up the points with accurate kicking from all over the ground - and the Wallabies were not in the same league. We were lucky not to be further behind! Wilkinson had all the 15 points, some kicked from the left boot, some from the right, an example of their versatility.The whistle went and it was going to take a huge turn around in the second half if the Wallabies were going to get back into the game, and they would need to show a lot more initiative and flair.They had done it before, but to win this game they would require one of their best ever comebacks.

The second half started as poorly as the first. Herbert hit it up but it was turned over and the English charged into the Wallabies half, keeping possession, working the Australian forwards in close and waiting for a chance to break through. Hill weaved his way through a handful of Wallabies and Wilkinson pinged away again with his boot - but this time missed. A rare penalty to the Australians saw Burke line up for some much needed points, but it went wide and to the right and we were still scoreless.

A few phases were put together before the inevitable turnover and the Wallabies looked in trouble.Roff bombed the ball high to the left and they drew a penalty, but this time opted for the lineout rather than the 3 points. It was 10m out from the goal line, a series of quick passes across the field found Burke over on the right and he just managed to sneak it inside the right hand corner as he dived over the defending Jason Robinson. Suddenly the Wallabies were only 8 points behind and the game was alive. Another infringement by the English and Burke stepped up for the penalty attempt, this time he was successful and it was a 15-10 game. Nathan Grey was making good ground regularly, but a series of tackle ball infringements by the Aussies allowed Wilkinson to add a valuable 3 points.
Luger made a serious break through the Wallaby defence but the English were unable to finish it off. The Wallabies were continuing to be ravaged by the whistle, unable to show the discipline required to gain some momentum.Wilkinson put through his 5th penalty and it would take a try to put the Wallabies back into the game.

With 70 minutes on the clock the Wallabies came forward, putting real pressure on the English defence as they ran it up deep.They ran it up and down the line, working it well before Phil Waugh received it on the right and he crashed over in the corner, but Burke missed the conversion and we needed another converted try to win.Bond found some room on the left before Burke ran into his own man and turned it over. The Wallabies would need a lucky break in the last few minutes to pull it off, as the game entered injury time they took a lineout in the English half. Grey charged down the left but was penalised at the tackle. Four minutes were left, the game in the balance.Wilkinson bombed high but it was knocked forward by his teammate, the Wallabies earning the scrum feed. As the Wallabies ran forward a loose pass by Kefu saw the ball skid into touch, and from the lineout the ref blew the whistle and the Wallabies had gone down after a spirited second half, but a disappointing first half beaten by an opponent showing a far greater level of versatility.