Australia coach Ewen McKenzie was left thinking of what might have been after a controversial try sparked England into coming from behind to beat the Wallabies 20-13 at Twickenham on Saturday.
England trailed 13-6 early in the second half when fullback Mike Brown, from just in front of his own line, launched a counterattack that led to a converted try for England captain Chris Robshaw in the 50th minute.
Seven minutes later, England crossed Australia’s try line again when flyhalf Owen Farrell, who missed three first-half penalties, surprised the tourists by exploiting a gap between Wallaby captain Ben Mowen and hooker Stephen Moore.
Photo: AFP
The television match official (TMO) checked for a possible obstruction by England replacement hooker Dylan Hartley on Moore before the try was awarded by Irish referee George Clancy.
England prevented an Australia side who had posted 33 points, albeit conceding 41 in defeat by world champions New Zealand in Dunedin last month, from scoring at all in the second half.
McKenzie, reflecting on England’s first try, said: “Obviously, it was flashed up on the big screen. That was a 90m turnaround and there’s seven points at the end of it. Theoretically, we should have been having a lineout 5m out [from England’s line].”
“The second one [England try] had the benefit of the TMO looking at it without the pressure of the moment,” he said.
“We can debate those things until you are blue in the face. It’s not going to change the outcome,” added former Wallaby prop McKenzie, a member of the Australia side that beat England in the 1991 World Cup final at Twickenham.
Australia’s eighth defeat in 11 matches this year meant their bid to emulate the celebrated 1984 Wallaby Grand Slam — beating England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales on a single tour — did not last longer than the first match.
Australia will now look to regroup against Italy in Turin on Saturday.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was