A ruthless England side racked up a record score to beat Australia 44-40 in a thrilling roller-coaster of a third Test yesterday, inflicting the first 3-0 home series sweep on the Wallabies since 1971.
Tries from prop Dan Cole, fullback Mike Brown, No. 8 Billy Vunipola and replacement hooker Jamie George, combined with 24 points from the boot of flyhalf Owen Farrell, extended their winning streak under coach Eddie Jones to nine matches.
Wingers Dane Haylett-Petty and Taqele Naiyaravoro, flyhalf Bernard Foley, fullback Israel Folau and flanker Michael Hooper crossed for Australia, but they were unable to match the discipline and set-piece strength of the Six Nations champions.
Photo: AFP
England won the first Test in Brisbane 39-28 with their previous record points tally against the Wallabies before securing their first series triumph in Australia with a 23-7 victory in Melbourne on the back of huge defensive effort.
The tourists showed they had come to play running rugby yesterday and they scored first when, after a burst for the line from Mako Vunipola, scrumhalf Ben Youngs fed Cole for the opening try.
Australia responded almost immediately through their backs, Folau feeding Matt Toomua for a dash down the touchline with the centre’s pass inside setting up Foley to touch down.
Eight minutes later and Australia were in front, quick ball from a ruck in front of the posts allowing the Wallabies to move the ball down the backline for Haylett-Petty to cross in the corner.
Farrell and Foley traded penalties before England scored their second try on the half-hour mark when Brown chased down winger Anthony Watson’s deft chip through.
The England flyhalf converted to put England back in front at 17-15, but Foley’s second penalty on the stroke of halftime gave the hosts an 18-17 lead.
Flanker Chris Robshaw almost gave England the perfect start to the second half when he snared an errant Wallabies lineout and crashed over the line, only to be held up in goal.
However, Billy Vunipola peeled off the ensuing 5m scrum to touch down and the England pack stole Australia’s next lineout before rumbling up the park and winning a penalty, which Farrell converted.
The tries kept coming, with Hooper snaking his way to the line after 51 minutes and allowing Foley to level the scores at 25-25 with the conversion.
Farrell kicked his third penalty after a dominant England scrum to edge the visitors ahead, but Toomua soon cut through the visitor’s midfield and fed Folau for a score that restored Australia’s lead.
A fourth Farrell penalty, from a scrum, made it again a one-point game before George shinned the ball over the line and touched down for England’s fourth try. When Farrell kicked his fifth penalty, the visitors were 41-32 ahead with 13 minutes to go.
Another Farrell penalty extended England’s record tally and cool game management kept the Australians pinned back until Naiyaravoro crashed over after the hooter for a consolation try.
ANFIELD BLUES: Kylian Mbappe arrived at Anfield on a run of 21 goals in 17 games, but he managed just three attempts in the match, none of them hitting the target Kylian Mbappe has been nearly unstoppable this season, but he hit a roadblock in their UEFA Champions League match at Anfield on Tuesday. For the second year running, the Real Madrid forward had a night to forget at Merseyside as Liverpool won 1-0. Mbappe looked a shadow of the player who has been tearing defenses apart all season. “We were lacking that threat in the final third,” said Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, without naming Mbappe individually. The FIFA World Cup winner for France rarely looked capable of finding a breakthrough against a Liverpool team who have been so defensively fragile for much of the
LOCAL SUCCESS: In the doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in straight sets Elena Rybakina on Monday punched her ticket to the WTA Finals last four with an impressive 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory over second seed Iga Swiatek in round-robin play in Riyadh. After cruising past Amanda Anisimova in her opener on Saturday, Rybakina claimed her second win of the week to guarantee herself top spot in the Serena Williams Group. Anisimova on Monday rallied back from a set and a break down to triumph 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in her all-American battle with seventh seed Madison Keys, who has been eliminated from the competition. “Madi was playing so well, it was quite a battle out there,”
Erling Haaland on Sunday scored twice to propel Manchester City up to second in the English Premier League with a 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth. The Cherries started the day in second thanks to the longest unbeaten run in the English top flight, but Andoni Iraola’s side were undone by the scintillating form of the Norwegian striker, who took his tally to 13 Premier League goals in 10 games. Haaland’s relentless streak is maintaining City’s title challenge as they reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal back to six points and edged one point ahead of Liverpool, who they face at the weekend. “Important
For almost 30 minutes, Vitomir Maricic did not take a breath. Face down in a pool, surrounded by anxious onlookers, the Croatian freediver fought spasming pain to redefine what doctors thought was possible. When he finally surfaced, he had smashed the previous Guinness World Record for the longest breath-hold underwater by nearly five minutes. However, even with the help of pure oxygen before the attempt, it had pushed him to the limit. “Everything was difficult, just overwhelming,” Maricic, 40, told reporters, reflecting on the record-breaking day on June 14. “When I dive, I completely disconnect from everything, as if I’m not even there.
RSS