Robert Kitson was our man at the ground in Brisbane – here’s his match report.
Updated
Final thoughts
24 points from the boot for Farrell – just one shy of the all-time best haul for an English player against Australia.
Hooper and Pocock were characteristically rugged, the former popping up in some useful positions to bag a double; with Folau really posing questions out wide, when the Wallabies found the room to manoeuvre.
The English scrum was however far too strong, and their defence resolute – Haskell, Cole and Vunipola (Billy) especially with a massive influence on the contest.
All set for a wonderful three-game Test series then; the cobwebs blown away for the Wallabies – they’ve got a week to make amends, and Hartley’s pre-game confidence proves well founded.
Thanks for your company tonight – roll on the second Test!
Full-time: Australia 28-39 England
Well, it started in a flurry; and it finished in equally breakneck fashion!
Just as it looked like England were home and hosed, perhaps the intensity dipped a little, and Australia’s fresh forwards swung momentum back. Kuridrani’s try made for some nervy moments, and but for Haskell’s tremendous defensive work out wide it could have been a fairytale comeback for the hosts.
All in all though, you’d have to say the English were good value for the win; some lovely intensity, and they really hurt the Australians through the penalty count, backed by the virtually infallible boot of Owen Farrell.
Updated
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 28-39 England (Nowell; conv: Farrell)
80 min: Heartbreak for the Wallabies, as Nowell slides over in the corner!
Good vision from Ford to pick out the freshly arrived centre, who beats Folau to the regather.
As the allotted time passes, Farrell takes the kick, just for giggles – and would you believe it from the very sideline; he slots it. What a masterclass from England’s No10.
79 min: Here come England; Ford digs in a lovely kick out wide... It’s a footrace...
Updated
PENALTY! Australia 28-32 England (Foley)
77 min: No mistake! Phipps departs the field, and it’s a debut for Nick Frisby. What a time to earn your first international guernsey!
Four points the difference as the host’s backline winds up again. They go side to side; Folau tries to beat Farrell, who tackles well. Australia recycling possession, that’s 10 phases.
Ball spills loose, and with Phipps off the pitch, there’s seemingly nobody there in a golden shirt to pick it up!
Updated
75 min: Great scrambling defence from the English backrower – has Haskell been one of the best out there?
England find touch; it’s their line out feed, and they’re in absolutely no hurry to take it.
But the Wallabies have pinched one against the feed! Dean Mumm beating Itoje in the air, and what a chance this could be.
Pressure here for England, and they offer the penalty. Hooper and Foley confer; they opt for a shot at the three points. 40m out; has Foley got the legs?
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 25-32 England (Kuridrani; conv: Foley)
72 min: Well, well, well – now this IS getting interesting – they stopped the Wallabies once, but they couldn’t stop Kuridrani that time!
Foley adds the extras, and from the restart, a relieving penalty; England pinged for not rolling away, and Australia set the line out just inside the English half.
Folau fends off Yarde; solid gains out wide. Another set piece, this time out left, and Folau almost slides through. Crucial tackle from Haskell – he bundles Kuridrani into touch and the moment is gone!
Updated
70 min: Watson and Youngs leave the field; tidy game from the scrum-half especially, as England continue to freshen up.
Australia with the scrum feed and this entirely new-look front row does the job. Haylett-Petty looks to charge over, but doesn’t quite get there. They recycle, they probe – surely this time.
Updated
PENALTY! Australia 18-32 England (Farrell)
67 min: No mistake. Obviously. Great distance there, and straight as a die.
England haven’t won in Brisbane – but would you bet against them now?
That said – something’s on here as Folau breaks well – great metres down the flanks!
They’re 5m out, but how about this English defence? About 11 phases there, and absolutely no way through. Another broken body in gold; it’s Pocock. He copped some real attention in some of those tackles and leaves the field for a concussion test.
65 min: Sio’s 10 minutes are finished, but so apparently is his evening. Slipper comes on to replace the downcast prop. England also wring the changes; Hill and Mullan enter the fray.
Mumm (also freshly on) is penalised for offside. Another cheap potential three for Farrell and it’s all smiles in the coaching box for Eddie Jones.
Updated
63 min: Australia win the line out, just outside the 22. Kuridrani carries well, before Haskell with a crucial turnover amid boos from the crowd; they’re pretty certain he joined the fray illegally.
Foley with the box-kick, but it flies too deep and Ford claims the mark.
61 min: England on the half-way, centrefield. Haylett-Petty and Ford exchange kicks. I’ve been told Ford snuck on late in the first half; a nice tactical mix-up from Jones; allowing England two quality in-game kickers, to switch the point of attack and freshen the kicking game.
A relieving penalty for Foley, who looks for touch. What’s the count – about 13-5 on the penalties? Most of them earned, in fairness.
TRY! Australia 18-29 England (Hooper)
58 min: Just as I was about to suggest that Australia need a spark from somewhere, here comes Hooper!
Brilliant hands from Foley and Lealiifano; a well-worked set piece and a lovely pass out to the flanker. He looked like he didn’t have the pace to get past the scrambling English cover defence, but he just makes the ground!
Foley hooks across the face; a tough chance from the sideline, but you’d imagine Farrell would have snapped it up. That hurts, no extras.
Updated
PENALTY! Australia 13-29 England (Farrell)
56 min: More impressive work from the English forwards and they put the Australian scrum under immense pressure.
Farrell trots eagerly over and slots that comfortably. 7/8 tonight. He’ll be unhappy about that no doubt.
53 min: Massive work from the English forwards; they’re putting Sio under all sorts of pressure; and the Australian prop has earned the ire of our French referee. A card is produced, and Australia face the daunting prospect of being a man-down.
Speaking of whether this should have happened earlier – Richard Shanks joins the conversation: “Why is no one talking about the 2 incidents with Stephen Moore blatantly punching England players in the face on the floor?”
Not to suggest that I’m not an objective onlooker here, but I’ll plead the Arsene Wenger defence: “I did not see this incidents.”
51 min: And just for something different; penalty to England. Sio struggling badly in the scrum, and it wheels badly. The English players offer (and receive) high-fives; they’re really pumped at the moment, and the Wallabies need some older heads to calm things down.
Updated
48 min: Great run from Hooper shortly after the restart before Horwill offers some good work out wide.
Australia with a line out just 5m out, but the short option for Moore fails to find the man! Some more afters as both sets of players square off. We thought it would be rugged, aggressive out there, but it definitely seems to be the English pack that’s edging that little battle.
Confidence is high and they capitalise on another sloppy knock-on, when a real opportunity beckoned there for the Wallabies.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 13-24 England (Yarde; conv: Farrell)
44 min: A let off for the Wallabies! Farrell hooks it right; it shapes back, but strikes the right upright.
England set up well from the line up, a brilliant bust from Haskell; he’s tackled brilliantly by Hooper but not before he steals some important metres. Ford (when did he sneak on?) throws a 30m ball to switch the play and pick out Yarde in acres of space.
Well struck from the sideline, and there’s the extras. What a start to the second half for England!
Updated
Peeep! Second half: Australia 13-19 England
40 min: Strong work from Pocock, he earns the penalty which Foley duly dispatches. Great territory there and it’s an Australian line out feed right on the 22.
Arnold will a loose carry, costly mistake there. Brown attempts a chip over the line, but Kuridrani covers well to close the opportunity. Dropped ball by Lealiifano, and Wallabies are penalised, great work from Billy Vunipola who gets over the ball.
Oh guess who, it’s Owen Farrell who wants a look at this chance at extras.
D. Huxley has sent through some musings: “England being so aggressive in the narrow channels means teams have to beat them out wide and execute well. The problem is Australia can do just that. Those big hits must take their toll though. If Australia make mistakes we can do this!”
Thankfully for you, Dave (uneducated guess) – it seems the Wallabies have been happy to provide.
What changes are we expecting, or hoping for in the second half?
Wallabies fan Albie Trice wants to see Sean McMahon come on to give the Australian pack some go-forward. Not much to do with the backline, with a 6-2 bench, though.
So. What was your take on that first opening sortie?
Some heavy challenges, and for all the talk of Australia’s advantage off the bench, they’ll need the extra depth with two players, Horne and Simmons, already rubbed out through injury.
England weathered a difficult first 10 minutes, but they appeared to gain the advantage in the forwards; Australia conceding far too many penalties for infringements around the ruck, and that try late on was an absolute coach-killer.
Really good hands early on from the Wallabies, but that little vignette from Folau-Foley-Kerevi was real horrorshow material.
Updated
PENALTY! Australia 13-19 England (Farrell)
40 min: Well-struck again from Farrell; good distance needed to get that one home, but no mistake.
The visitors go to the break as worthy leaders; and no doubt some choice words are in store for the Wallabies from Cheika, as they squandered that promising start.
Updated
38 min: Sio is found short in the scrum, he folded there, and that’s a bad penalty to concede for the Wallabies. 9-2 in the penalties; and right on the buzzer it’s Captain Metronome with another shot to add the extra three points.
PENALTY! Australia 13-16 England (Foley)
35 min: Clutch kick from Foley (if we’ll accept that kind of language here). A little bit of razz from the crowd after two misses, but no mistake this time.
A key tackle from young debutant Haylett-Petty; he had to make that or Yarde could have really hurt the Australians; especially just before half-time.
Holmes with a strong tackle and he’s earned the Wallabies a scrum feed.
Updated
34 min: We’ll see no more of Horne tonight; he’s failed the concussion test – big responsibility on the shoulders of Lealiifano therefore.
We set for a scrum, Wallabies feed. It collapses and both sets of forward go in for a general melee; there really is some feeling there. Dan Cole eventually penalised for hinging, before several of the English forwards take exception to Phipps.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 10-16 England (Joseph; conv: Farrell)
32 min: Good gracious. That was awful. Folau with a frankly rotten pass to Foley; he drops it, Kerevi attempts to recover but can’t hold it, and Joseph ‘soccers’ through to comfortably reclaim.
From seemingly nothing Australia really did press self-destruct there. Albeit under some eager English defence.
Updated
PENALTY! Australia 10-9 England (Farrell)
29 min: Romain has a word with Moore for repeat infringements; Pocock the guilty party on that occasion. They back the boot of Farrell once again, and he lines up about 10m in from the touchline.
Beautifully struck, and England inch ever-closer.
NO TRY! Australia 10-6 England
29 min: Foley charges through a gap, it looked lovely in real time, and the fly-half flew through the English defence! He crosses in the corner, but Romain goes to the TMO.
Was there an obstruction on Burrell in the lead-up? After some consultation; yes.
Updated
PENALTY! Australia 10-6 England (Farrell)
28 min: No mistake from England’s No10; and Horne leaves the field for a concussion test. Christian Lealiifano enters the field.
25 min: Australia almost nab it against the feed, but Itoje does well to reclaim. Penalty against Hooper for coming in late after the ruck had formed. Horne meanwhile is looking groggy; there’s some solid contacts going in all over the park.
Farrell lines up another, from about 10m wide of centre. He should slot this.
24 min: Simmons is in all sorts of trouble; he looks like he’s struggling in backplay. Might be a knee or ankle, he landed badly during that last line out. He limps to the sideline, and it’s former Queensland Reds stalwart James Horwill who sees some early minutes.
The players take the breather, before Foley restarts.
Waster opportunity for Australia as Foley fails to find touch. Vunipola (Billy) with an excellent take under a well-lofted kick, before Folau kicks out on the full.
A disastrous patch of Australian kicking and the visitors restart just outside the 22.
PENALTY! Australia 10-3 England (Farrell)
21 min: No mistake from Farrell, but then from that angle, you’d really hope not. And despite all Australia’s early possession, it’s just a converted try that separates these sides.
Fardy and Horne probe out wide, Phipps makes a meal releasing the ball and almost concedes a cheap turnover. They hold on, and recycle into an eighth phase, before England force a penalty. Australia once more guilty of holding on.
Updated
19 min: England on the 22, Vunipola with a strong hit up. Penalty to England as Stephen Moore bleeds profusely in backplay.
Pocock pinged for coming in from the side; and Farrell elects to take the kick from straight in front.
17 min: A turnover just past halfway from England; they really need to get some sustained possession here.
Australia return the favour with loose ball control and the visitors break the backline for the first time with Brown. He’s pulled down by Foley, but this is best patch from England so far.
TRY! Australia 10-0 England (Folau)
14 min: Lovely stuff from Foley who holds the pass, draws the defence and puts Folau through an aching gap. There’s no stopping this man from about 15m out, and it turns into an excellent start for the hosts.
Foley strikes it nicely from about 10m in, but it fades and strikes the left post. No extras. Could this prove costly?
Updated
12 min: Our French referee, Romain Poite, has a word with some of the players, taking his time to set the packs, but it’s eventually the Australians who emerge the stronger.
It sets up the Wallabies for another patch of great attacking territory. Watson does well to shut down Pocock, some desperate defence here. Australia swing wide again and..
10 min: England win the line out just outside the 22. They have it centre-field, and a scrum is called.
Here we are – first look at Spider Cam! (And also the respective forward packs).
TRY! Australia 5-0 England (Hooper)
8 min: Great hands from Kerevi, he draws in his opposite number, and once again – who is it out wide? Hooper! The flanker ambles over; no luck from the touchline with the kick for Foley.
Updated
8 min: Some solid phases by Australia, Hooper prominent early on. Wallabies spread first left; then right. Folau beats his man and floats a wobbly ball to the touchline. It hits Hoopers chest, and..
7 min: Foley and Farrell trade box-kicks, Haylett-Petty tries a chip into open paddock, but it’s safely dealt with – Yarde returns fire and gets good metres; line out bang on halfway.
A pause as Kerevi gets running repairs. A lively start so far, to the surprise of, I imagine, nobody.
5 min: Wallabies set up with a line out win around the 22; another penalty against the Wallabies – Kerevi done for holding on, and he trots to the sideline with some claret flowing his forehead. Looks like a stigmata; what does that bode?
Some push and shove, and there’s definitely an edge of feeling out there. Who saw that coming.
Simmons punished for pulling down Itoje in the line out and England get another penalty.
3 min: Great tackle from Sio and he forces the turnover. Debutant winger Haylett-Petty gets his first look before Pocock gets clattered by Itoje. Some early metres for Folau, as Australia probe the right-edge defence.
Great offload from Kuridrani, and he almost puts centre partner Kerevi through a gap. But England hold strong! Great defence.
Updated
Peeeep!
1 min: And we’re under way! Australia with the kick off, Foley tries the short start and England scramble to tidy up.
Very early penalty; Vunipola draws the infringment, and a nice starting pressure release.
Some boos as the visitors emerge from the sheds, and as you’d expect a hearty reception for the hosts. They especially love seeing an English side run out at this stadium (see Preamble).
A lovely welcome-to-country from Aunty Valda Coolwell to Aboriginal land, and well observed from the crowd.
John Boon has been in touch on email. He’s prepared to back up the confident talk of captain Dylan Hartley: “We are 5 years into Lancaster’s 8 year plan for Japan. Things are finally on an upward curve with more squad continuity. It will be close, but England will edge this one.”
Cheers John. Upward curve indeed – but then there’s no need to mention the last World Cup, or the words Sam Burgess; especially this early into the coverage, now is there.
Anthems given some extra flourish, the Australian rendition might have raised the roof, if we weren’t playing under stars.
And..
Updated
A quite specific score prediction from our man John McEnerney: “7, 8 & 15 will b the key men 4 Aus, IF is the most electrifying player with SBW in rugby. Eng will b close but Aus by 9.”
That has come via Twitter, before you grammar-pedants come on hot and heavy.
How’s the Australian scrum going to hold up tonight? There’s been a lot of talk over the years about the influence of the Argentine forwards coach Mario Ledesma on this forward pack; but can they match the extra grunt of the English big men?
Players are in the tunnel. We’ll have an early indication on that front shortly, it seems.
Updated
The players are out on the pitch; Eddie Jones is running, well hobbling, his chargers through some final drills. A brave man there, chancing the warm up in some nice shiny flat shoes.
Anthems will be just around the corner – but before that: last chance at some wild predictions. Will Folau dissect them out wide? Will we see Itoje demonstrate to a southern audience the hype around this star backrower? And could Farrell’s metronomic, well, at least ‘non-Ford like’ kicking prove the difference?
Last chance for bragging rights; throw them at me.
Updated
An ‘almost sold-out’ Suncorp Stadium/Lang Park (for the commercially minded or pure of heart among you) awaits our sides – there’s much excitement about Australia playing almost as many debutants as England has picked Saracens players; and especially around this 7ft 9in second-rower (OK, 6ft 10in) Rory Arnold that Cheika has plucked from wilds of south-western New South Wales.
Wait for some razzing from away-fans should he lose any lineouts tonight.
Incidentally, here’s the match report from the New Zealand v Wales encounter. Some nervy moments early on for the All Blacks, but they motored home in classic fashion.
Also, get set for Spider-Cam tonight; should give us an interesting look at the scrum front rows.
Updated
As always, it’s a more interesting bus ride when there’s more passengers; how do you see this one unfolding?
Quips, witticisms, insightful observations welcome at richard.parkin.casual@theguardian.com, or tweet to @rrjparkin.
So, full-time at Eden Park, a fast-finishing New Zealand outfit running in 39-21 over a fading Wales. Recap the live action, here.
Let’s look ahead to the big one then, and here are your teams:
No surprises in the lineups for this first Test (given Eddie Jones was guessing the Australian XV from about three months ago anyway).
Australia:
ICYMI | Here's your Qantas Wallabies team to face England. #AUSvENG #StrongerAsOne pic.twitter.com/z73KL68tgf
— Qantas Wallabies (@qantaswallabies) June 11, 2016
England:
Your England team to face Australia on Saturday in Brisbane🌹
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) June 9, 2016
▪ K.O 11:00 BST
▪ LIVE on @SkySports 1#carrythemhome pic.twitter.com/S0ijxASOia
Preamble
Hi all – hope this finds you well, wherever you’re following this coverage from.
Welcome to the Summer Internationals, June Test series, Cook Cup – whichever tickles your fancy; and what a highly anticipated clash this is. So tasty in fact they even booked the All Blacks and Wales as a curtain-raiser. That’s some headline act.
Leaving aside the much-discussed mind games and pre-game Bodyline banter; the mate-against-mate narrative of Eddie Jones v Michael Cheika, there’s a genuine intrigue about this clash, a sense of tension and excitement that doesn’t always precede an English tour down under.
These ancient foes have had a pretty even history, Australia edging 25-18 on wins-losses and 12-8 on Cook Cup series victories. From there it gets ugly reading for England though – they’ve only won three times in 17 attempts on the island continent, and on this turf in Brisbane it’s even more daunting prospect. In 2004 it was Clyde Rathbone and Joe Roff putting the visitors to the sword amid a half century of points, and need we even mention that fateful June in 1998, and the John Eales-inspired 76-0 record drubbing?
There’s a confidence within this English squad under Jones though, as evidenced by Dylan Hartley’s strong comments during the week, and if the characters of the respective coaches is anything to go off, it’s set to be a determined, aggressive, and fundamentally tough encounter. Bring me my slippers.
Richard will be manning the controls today but before he starts in earnest, here’s a snippet from Rob Kitson’s final preview piece:
Every sporting contest between Australia and England has a singular edge but, outside Rugby World Cups or a Lions tour, the anticipation for Saturday’s first Test is unprecedented. Watching the Poms get clobbered never loses its local lustre; if the Wallabies outplay an English team commanded by their compatriot Eddie Jones, there will be widespread mirth from Canberra to Cape Tribulation.
Short of Jones agreeing to be photographed outside Suncorp Stadium dressed as Douglas Jardine and clutching a pint of warm IPA, he could not have done much more to sell the fixture. The Bodyline references have been relentless, the mind games with his old mate Michael Cheika a constant backdrop. Is it really going to be 1932‑33 all over again, with Billy Vunipola and Maro Itoje taking it in turns to play Harold Larwood? Should England win the series, eight months after being ejected from their own World Cup by Cheika’s squad, they can certainly claim to have arisen from the modern‑day ashes.
Read the rest of the article here.
