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Earl (20'), Pollock (58'), Mitchell (71'), Cowan-Dickie (74')
Tries
Potter (33')
Ford (21')
Conversions
Edmed (34')
Ford (19')
Penalties
England began their Quilter Autumn Nations Series in style with a 25-7 win over Australia at Allianz Stadium.
Tries from Ben Earl, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell, and Luke Cowan-Dickie, plus five points from George Ford’s boot, were enough to secure Steve Borthwick’s team their eighth consecutive victory.
Australia scored through a Harry Potter try, and a Tane Edmed conversion, and have now won five and lost seven internationals this year. Next up is Italy in Udine.
England are back at Allianz Stadium on Saturday when they face Fiji.
Garryowens Galore
With a back three off Freddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, plus Tommy Freeman at outside centre, it wasn’t surprising that Borthwick and his newly installed attack coach, Lee Blackett, made hanging kicks such a feature of their attack.
There were times that Alex Mitchell and George Ford had no intention other than banging another up and under towards the Australia defence. It is not like the Wallabies are necessarily weak under the high ball, with Max Jorgensen and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii with memorable airborne interventions against England and the Lions recently.
Borthwick and Blackett have seen how the new laws – no blocking and no shepherding – have paid off in Gallagher PREM Rugby and picked players who will reap the benefit. Feyi-Waboso came close early on and moves that featured two Roebuck interventions ended in tries for Earl and Pollock.
They may try different things over their next three matches, but high kicks are definitely something we will see again.
Freeman At Thirteen?
Tommy Freeman may not have fully clicked as an outside centre, but it is probably unfair to rule him out as being the long term option in the 13 jersey, especially as he didn’t do anything wrong.
Most importantly, he helped keep Suaalii quiet, which many before him have failed to do. Otherwise, he did the basics of an outside centre well. He (and Ben Earl) led England for carries with 12, made one line break, four tackles, and carried for 80 metres.
Ollie Lawrence is still in the squad, and so is Henry Slade, but Freeman has done enough to hold onto the shirt against Fiji. It will allow him the chance to develop further and build on his club links with Fraser Dingwell, Alex Mitchell, and Henry Pollock.
That way, even if Borthwick eventually opts for Lawrence or Slade, he has someone in back up who knows what the role requires and who has shown he can do it at test level.
Points Upon Points
George Ford may have missed three of his four conversions, but the one he did land came at a great stage. Twenty minutes in, his conversion of Ben Earl’s try, allied to his earlier penalty gave England a 10-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Scoring points in waves is something the best teams do, and Ford has shown over the years he knows when to knock over a drop goal to keep the scoreboard rattling round. It won’t have been any fun as an Australian player knowing that a quick one-two had put them over a score behind.
It was the same late in the match. Soon after Mitchell had wiggled over from a stopped rolling maul, Cowan-Dickie forced himself over three minutes later, off the back of another rolling maul.
It is hardly a trade secret to reveal that scores following scores is something desirable, but it is something the very best do on a regular basis.
Aussie Plateau
A few months ago, excitement was high over the Wallabies progress. They had won the final Lions test and produced a comeback for the ages to beat the Springboks at Ellis Park. Another came over Argentina, but there were also defeats to the Boks and Pumas, so it was hardly surprising they lost both Bledisloe Cup tests to New Zealand, despite some pre-match optimism.
They weren’t helped that Len Ikitau, Tom Hooper, and Will Skelton were kept back by their clubs, but that has been the pattern they’ve faced throughout the season. James O’Connor wasn’t involved as Leicester Tigers kept him back, though you suspect Joe Schmidt would have liked him such was Edmed’s offering in the number 10 jersey.
Harry Potter’s read to intercept to score was good, but they rarely offered more. They play Italy next but could have done with playing them first to iron out any problems. England showed that they are further along in their development, but while 2025 has been a better year for Australia, they need to step up against Ireland and France to ensure there is some positivity going into 2026, not to mention ranking points with the 2027 World Cup draw coming soon.
