Australia 27 - 17 England - Match Review

England suffered a disappointing defeat in the first Test in Perth despite dominating at the scrum and forcing the Wallabies to concede two penalty tries.

It turned out as most people thought it would be, England power against Aussie guile. The former came to the fore more and more as the game went on, but truth be told the Australian backline would regularly be making metres in attack, whilst the England attack looked predictable and lethargic for most of the match. Their off-loading game was nearly non-existant, allied with slow pick and go tactics that went nowhere and a tendency to kick the ball away to the talented Aussie backline was unfortunately clear for all England supporters to see.

Things looked bleak for England at half time as they went in 14-0 down, but a spirited second half display saw Martin Johnson's men reduce the deficit to 14-10 thanks to a penalty from Leicester Tigers fly half Toby Flood and a converted penalty try given after persistent fouling from the Wallabies scrum.

Australia responded quickly through the elegant Quade Cooper who went over for his second try after good work from Digby Ioane.

Another penalty try came England's way with ten minutes remaining which Flood duly converted meaning England were just four points behind, but two penalties from James O'Connor and Cooper respectively swung the momentum back with the hosts who held out for the win.

Whilst the first half was more or less a horror show, with the gulf in class in the backs obvious for all to see and the forwards getting nowhere in the tight exchanges; England rallied in the last 40 to put the result of the Test in doubt. The injection of pace and power from replacements Youngs and Lawes will have pleased Johnson and at least one of them has to start in the second Test next weekend. The Aussie defence was strong throughout but didn’t have to work excessively hard in the opening half to contain the predictable English attack. That all changed in the second half and had nearly tries from Ashton and Tindall, both mere inches from the try-line, come to pass, the end result would have been put in even more doubt.

England know they’ll need more than a dominant scrum to beat Australia on their own patch in the second Test. They were clearly lacking gainline breakers around the tackle area and were regularly blasted back in the tackle. When they did get back into the game, although nerves may have got the better of the Aussies, they were able to lift a gear and either score a good try of their own, or relieve the pressure with a penalty kick after some surges into the England half. There was more endeavour and pace in the second half however to encourage England supporters that they could provide a sterner test next weekend.

Player Ratings:

Tim Payne - Strong at scrum time, and a couple of good carries. Debatable substitution thankfully didn’t affect the inevitable penalty try that came England’s way - 8
Steve Thompson - Aggressive scrummaging and powerful carrying late on. Good throwing in and was one of England’s best players - 8
Dan Cole - The find of the season, made mincemeat of opposite number, and power and defence outstanding in the loose - 8
Simon Shaw - Unfortunately showing his age in the loose, never shirking a challenge but too often dragged back by the organised Aussie defence - 5
Tom Palmer - Workman-like and won plenty of lineout ball, gave away a couple of penalties - 5
Tom Croft - Provided a good lineout option and showed up a few times in the loose, whilst not shirking his responsibilities in the tight - 6
Lewis Moody - Missed more tackles than he made, although took a big knock to the head which may explain that. Encouragingly positive captaincy decisions - 5
Nick Easter - Lost the ball in contact far too often, didn’t make a huge amount of ground in attack and apart from a cheeky dummy, totally outclassed by his opposite number. - 5

Danny Care - Poor decision making, rattled at the base of the scrum a few too many times, slow delivery - 4
Toby Flood - Looked to attack the gainline but never found enough space or time to release those outside him, opting for the up-and-under perhaps too often. Not a game to remember. 5
Chris Ashton - Tried his best to unlock the defence but didn’t have many chances to show what he can do - 6
Shontayne Hape - The debutant was absent for large parts of the match and unfortunately caught out in defence too often - 5
Mike Tindall - A rock in defence, straightens the line well and shows his power and possibly even pace in attack to break through the gainline - 7
Mark Cueto - Never let England down, again, solid performer without a huge amount of ball - 6
Ben Foden - Not at his best in attack, often choosing the safety-first option. When he did counter-attack, particularly late on, threatened the Aussie defence - 6

Note-worthy subs:

Courtney Lawes - IMPACT off the bench, similar to his game on Tuesday. Brought pace and power - 7
James Haskell - Almost seemed determined to see England lose the match; twice turned over due to poor body position heading into the tackle, when England were pressuring the Australia defence - 4
Ben Youngs - Passing a bit wayward at times, will need to up the quality of service but asked questions of the Aussie defence and injected pace on the ball - 7

Australia (14) 27
Tries: Elsom, Cooper 2 Cons: O'Connor 3 Pens: O'Connor, Cooper
England (0) 17
Tries: Penalty 2 Cons: Flood 2 Pens: Flood

England: Ben Foden (Northampton), Mark Cueto (Sale), Mike Tindall (Gloucester), Shontayne Hape (Bath), Chris Ashton (Northampton); Toby Flood (Leicester), Danny Care (Harlequins); Tim Payne (Wasps), Steve Thompson (Leeds), Dan Cole (Leicester); Simon Shaw (Wasps), Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), Tom Croft (Leicester), Lewis Moody (Leicester - capt), Nick Easter (Harlequins).

Replacements: George Chuter (Leicester), David Wilson (Bath), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), J Haskell (Stade Francais), Ben Youngs (Leicester), Jonny Wilkinson (Toulon), Mathew Tait (Sale).

Australia: James O'Connor (Western Force); Digby Ioane (Queensland Reds), Rob Horne (NSW Waratahs), Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs), Drew Mitchell (NSW Waratahs); Quade Cooper (Queensland Reds), Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs); Ben Daley (Queensland Reds), Saia Faingaa (Queensland Reds), Salesi Ma'afu (ACT Brumbies), Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs), Nathan Sharpe (Western Force), Rocky Elsom (ACT Brumbies, capt), David Pocock (Western Force), Richard Brown (Western Force).

Replacements: Huia Edmonds (ACT Brumbies), James Slipper (Queensland Reds), Mark Chisholm (ACT Brumbies), Matt Hodgson (Western Force), Will Genia (Queensland Reds), Berrick Barnes (NSW Waratahs), Kurtley Beale (NSW Waratahs).