England v Australia: Hosts edge out Wallabies at Twickenham

England seized the psychological advantage ahead of next year's Rugby World Cup with a 26-17 Twickenham triumph over Australia.

The Wallabies will travel to Rugby HQ for a Pool A showdown with the host nation next October on the back of successive defeats to Stuart Lancaster's side, who ended their autumn series with two victories after two defeats.

A dominant display from England's pack laid the foundation for victory and Gloucester No 8 Ben Morgan scored two tries as the hosts got their World Cup preparations back on track with a morale-boosting victory.

Tries from Bernard Foley and Will Skelton kept Australia in the game but England held out to record back-to-back home wins over the Wallabies for the first time since 2002.

Defeats to New Zealand and South Africa had extended England's losing run to five Test matches, but Lancaster's troops followed up their success against Samoa last weekend with a rousing victory in front of a raucous crowd.

Before kick-off Twickenham joined the rest of the sporting world in paying their respects to Australian batsman Phillip Hughes who died earlier in the week, with a minute's applause, while both teams stood cricket bats up against their bench as a tribute to the 25-year-old.

Positive start

England made a positive start with a rolling maul in their own half before livewire scrum-half Ben Youngs attempted to break free, but instead Australia seized possession and territory to force the first penalty of the match.

With Morgan penalised for not releasing, Foley slotted a straightforward penalty, only for George Ford to restore parity with a similarly simple kick.

Ford, who despite having his goal-kicking under scrutiny was preferred to Owen Farrell in the No 10 jersey, then put England in front as he slotted a more testing, long-range effort.  

While England led, Australia looked far more dangerous in possession with Adam Ashley-Cooper – switched from the wing to centre to cover the absence of Tevita Kuridrani – and Henry Speight making breaks, but the hosts’ defence stood tall.

Lock Courtney Lawes tracked back excellently to hit Ashley-Cooper with a try-saving tackle before captain Chris Robshaw won a crucial penalty for Lancaster’s men.

Indeed, it was the pack that laid the foundations for the opening try; a dominant scrum marching Australia back before Morgan charged over and Ford converted for 13-3, and advantage England took into the interval.

Missed chances

Having missed a chance to tighten England’s grip on the match prior to the break, Ford missed a second penalty attempt and his team were made to pay for a slovenly start to the second period, Foley offering an inside ball to Rob Horne who returned the favour to put the fly-half in under the posts.

Foley’s conversion reduced Australia’s arrears to three, but coach Michael Cheika made a bold call to immediately replace the Waratahs half-back with Quade Cooper.

England’s pack remained in the ascendancy, though, and an emphatic scrum from five metres out saw Morgan claim his second try of the match, leaving forwards coach Graham Rowntree punching the air in delight.

However, when replacement forward Skelton crashed through three tacklers to touch down and reduce the deficit to six points, England were again locked in a nail-biting affair.

A poor pass from Israel Folau just failed to leave Horne clear on the left wing before England’s forwards again wrestled control of the match, winning a penalty from a scrum in their own half and then producing a stellar rolling maul in Australian territory.

And the England management team visibly breathed a collective sigh of relief when a steely-eyed Ford slotted a fourth penalty late on to seal an important victory.