WALLABIES FALL TO ENGLAND IN OPENING COOK CUP TEST
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Loading...The Qantas Wallabies have fallen to the new and improved England, 28-39 in the first match of an historic three-Test series at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night in front of 48,735 fans.
With discipline having a big impact on the match, the Wallabies conceded 15 penalties to England’s eight, which paved the way for Owen Farrell to boot the visitors to victory with a 24-point individual haul.
The win was England’s eighth Test victory in a row, while the Wallabies suffered their first ever defeat to the old enemy in Brisbane.
In a lively, fiery start to the fixture, the Australians raced out to an early two-tries-to-nil advantage in the opening 15 minutes with five-pointers to Michael Hooper and Israel Folau, who charged on to a brilliant Bernard Foley pass to slice through for the second strike, opening up a 10-0 lead.
Farrell then calmly slotted penalty goals in the 21st, 28th and 31st minutes to close the gap to one, before some loose passing from the Wallabies handed England an opportunistic try to centre Jonathan Joseph in the 32nd minute.
The England flyhalf converted the try and added another penalty, before Foley slotted one of his own for the Wallabies, leaving the score at 19-13 to the visiting team at the break.
Unfortunately for Australia it was England who continued their ascendancy in the second half, when replacement back George Ford put winger Marland Yarde over with a brilliant long ball.
A Farrell penalty goal extended the advantage to 29-13 before Hooper bagged his second of the night out wide.
With the gap at 13 after another Farrell penalty goal, Tevita Kuridrani missed an opportunity to send Folau over in the corner before atoning for his error in judgement with a bullocking try of his own to give the Wallabies a sniff.
With the score at 32-25, the Aussies were awarded a penalty 40 metres out in front of the posts, where Foley elected to take the three as opposed to putting the ball into touch and playing for the lineout and a chance to force the draw with a converted try.
The move looked like reaping the ultimate rewards when the Wallabies went on sustained attack and moved the ball up to halfway before a dropped ball gave the ball back to England and a superb finish from replacement back Jack Nowell sealed the deal.
In a beaten Wallabies team, Israel Folau was a standout with 111 run metres and threatened with every touch of the ball, while Dane Haylett-Petty impressed on debut and was heavily involved in the Wallabies attack. Despite being on the wrong end of the scoreboard, the home side chanced their arm with the ball and finished the game with 710 run metres and 9 line breaks to England’s 407 run metres and four line breaks.
The Englishmen got through a mountain of defence and dominated the set peice, led by their inspirational number seven James Haskell who was named man of the match.
How it happened:
9 mins: Michael Hoper try, AUS 5-0 ENG
16 mins: Israel Folau try, AUS 10-0 ENG
21 mins: Owen Farrell pen, AUS 10-3 ENG
28 mins: Owen Farrell pen, AUS 10-6 ENG
31 mins: Owen Farrell pen, AUS 10-9 ENG
32 mins: Jonathan Joseph try, Owen Farrell con, AUS 10-16 ENG
37 mins: Bernard Foley pen, AUS 13-16 ENG
40 mins: Owen Farrell pen, AUS 13-19 ENG
HALF TIME
46 mins: Marland Yarde try, Owen Farrell con, AUS 13-26 ENG
57 mins: Owen Farrell pen, AUS 13-29 ENG
58 mins: Michael Hooper try (2), AUS 18-29 ENG
67 mins: Owen Farrell pen, AUS 18-32 ENG
71 mins: Tevita Kuridrani try, Bernard Foley con, AUS 25-32 ENG
78 mins: Bernard Foley pen, AUS 28-32 ENG
80 mins: Jack Nowell try, Owen Farrell con, AUS 28-39 ENG
FULL TIME
What they said:
Qantas Wallabies captain, Stephen Moore: “They played well, put us under a bit of pressure at the breakdown I thought and that’s important at this level. We need to tidy that up a bit but we’ve got two more games left in the series and we’ll get back to work and look forward to Melbourne. It’s disappointing from our perspective tonight, but England played well and deserved the win.”
England 39 (Jonathan Joseph, Marland Yarde, Jack Nowell Tries; Owen Farrell 3 cons; 6 pens) defeated Australia 28 (Michael Hooper 2, Israel Folau, Tevita Kuridrani tries; Bernard Foley con; 2 pens)
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