By Dr B
June 12 2006

England’s first game against Australia since the 26-16 victory at Twickenham back in November 2005 saw an injection of young blood infuse the England team with feelings of optimism; an optimism that was cautiously shared by Andy Robinson.

Robinson also warned his young team that they would need large reserves of courage to take on the Wallabies in the stadium where they had been denied the Webb Ellis Trophy almost three years ago in the World Cup Final.

 

Australia boasted some new faces of their own as well as the heaviest front row they had fielded since 1983, no doubt in response to the demolition job that the England front row (thanks in no small part to the man mountain Andrew Sheridan) had done back in their last meeting.

 

The teams’ starting lineups were as follows:

 

AUSTRALIA

 

15)  Latham

14)  Gerrard

13)  Mortlock

12)  Rogers

11)  Tuqiri

10) Larkham

9)  Gregan (winning a joint record 119^th cap)

8)  Elsom

7)  Smith

6)  Heenan

5)  Vickerman

4)  Sharpe

3)  Blake

2)  McIsaac

1)  Holmes

 

ENGLAND

 

15)  Balshaw

14)  Varndell

13)  Tait

12)  Catt

11)  Voyce

10)  Barkley

9)  Richards

8)  Sanderson

7)  Moody

6)  Lund

5)  Brown

4)  Deacon

3)  White

2)  Mears

1)  Rowntree

  

The referee was Alan Lewis from Ireland, assisted by his touch judges Steve Walsh and Kelvin Deaker.

 

England’s kick-off found George Smith and from the resulting ruck, the Wallabies moved the ball through the hands of their backs culminating in Tuqiri’s chip through, gathered safely by Richards. England moved through a few short phases of play, then the two teams swapped some poor positional kicks. Larkham combined with Latham, the latter punting the ball downfield and finding touch on England’s ten-metre line for the game’s first lineout.

 

The lineout was to prove the catalyst for Australia’s first chance of points: Mears throwing to Brown and the ball moving into midfield through the hands of Barkley, Sanderson and Moody before the Tigers’ openside was pinged for holding on in the tackle.  The resulting penalty gave Stirling Mortlock a relatively easy kick at goal from the England ten-metre line, just left of centre but he pulled the kick wide and missed.

 

The phase of play that followed the restart was a little scrappy, but Lund put in a great tackle on Gregan from a ruck, the youngster seemingly hungry to claim himself an Aussie scalp, albeit a rather bald one. England then claimed a free kick after transgression at the scrum and combined well through Richards, Balshaw and Barkley before Brown was turned over and Australia counter-attacked, Mortlock feeding Gerrard who scampered down the right wing with Smith in support but the dreadlocked flanker knocked on when Gerrard offloaded with the England line threatening to be breached.

 

From the resulting scrum, and only eight minutes into the game, England put together their first threatening attack of the evening, the ball fizzing along the midfield before finding Tait who put in a superb sidestep to leave Stirling Mortlock clutching at thin air before being hauled down by Rogers on the Australian ten-metre line. In the tackle, the ball popped up for Balshaw who couldn’t keep hold of it and knocked on.

 

The Aussies knocked on in midfield after the scrum and Balshaw recovered the ball, eventually feeding the flying Varndell in space. Unfortunately Varndell’s run and subsequent chip didn’t come off but the ball went out from an Australian player and England were awarded the lineout.

 

Three phases of average play were brought to a halt by Moody overrunning Tait in possession and the Wallabies being awarded the penalty for crossing. They failed to capitalise on their opportunity however, with Larkham knocking the ball on after some quick hands in midfield.

 

England’s propensity for turnovers reared its ugly head next, with the ball bobbling loose from nice interplay between Sanderson and Richards. Gregan recovered the ball and it was quickly passed through the backs out onto the left wing with Tuqiri taking contact and going to ground. Australia were beginning to look threatening now with Gregan feeding Mortlock; the big centre’s wild pass out to the right wing drawing a line under another Australian counter-attack as the ball went into touch.

 

After nineteen minutes, the deadlock was broken as Brown was penalised in his own half for hanging on to the ball in the tackle, Mortlock taking the kick and making the score 3-0.

 

Right from the restart, Australia threatened once more with Smith taking the ball and slipping Voyce in the tackle then starting off down the right wing before offloading to Mortlock. A good tackle by Moody stopped Mortlock before the Wallabies floated the ball out to the opposite wing, Brown making the hit on Rogers.

 

A few minutes of scrappy broken possession saw England with possibly their best unconverted chance of the entire game when Richards picked the ball from the base of an England scrum and passing out along the line through the hands of Barkley and Tait before Varndell got the ball with room to make a move. Varndell’s pass to Voyce on the left wing was wild and uncontrolled, nerves perhaps getting the better of the young flyer, but the pass to Voyce looked forward anyway.

 

England were caught offside at the resulting lineout and Mortlock kicked the penalty to make the score 6-0.

 

After Larkham went into touch from the restart, England looked strong again, mauling and chipping their way towards the Aussie line. With Richards stuck in the ruck close to the Wallabies’ try line, Rowntree stepped in at scrum half and wound the ball out to Barkley who chipped through for Balshaw to touch down. Except that he didn’t. Gregan, demonstrating superb control and upper body strength, got underneath Balshaw as he tried to ground the ball then rolled him onto his back, preventing the try. The TMO was undecided and England were awarded a five-metre scrum.

 

Holmes dropped his side of the scrum under pressure from Julian White and Barkley had the chance to halve the deficit. Looking decidedly nervous, he made a hash of an apparent sitter and left the score at 6-0 to the Aussies.

 

Possession switched between the teams with England looking under increasing pressure from an improving Wallabies squad and when Australia were awarded a lineout just inside the England ten-metre line, Lund took the jumper out in the air. The big mans’ blushes were spared as Mortlock hooked the penalty kick wide.

 

England forced a turnover from the restart, George Smith making a rare mistake in what was turning out to be a solid powerful performance from the Aussie openside and hanging on to the ball in contact. Barkley kicked for touch inside the Wallaby ten-metre line but the throw from Mears was inaccurate and the ball was lost. The Wallabies replied through lovely hands from Gregan, Larkham, Rogers and Gerrard in a fluid cross-field move, Catt eventually putting in the hit to stop Gerrard out on the left wing. Gregan chipped the ball over the breakdown, Balshaw collected but the Aussies were awarded a penalty for offside. A lineout at the England 22 saw Australia force the pace, the ball again whipping through the backline before being kicked into touch by Gerrard.

 

England once more lost the lineout under pressure from the Wallaby jumpers and Gregan, Larkham, Rogers, Mortlock and Gerrard combined well until the ball came back to Rogers with the England line beckoning and the league convert knocked on.

 

With halftime almost upon the stadium, Australia put together some fluent phases of play, placing increasing pressure upon a beleaguered England. The Wallabies were helped by some lucky backward losses of the ball but their dominance paid off as Sanderson became the latest miscreant in the England squad, pinged for hands in the ruck. Faced with a thirty-metre kick to take the lead to 9-0, Mortlock never wavered and increased his points total to nine for the day.

 

Now was as good a time as any to give England a break and Alan Lewis duly obliged, sending the teams in for half-time with a blow of his whistle. Having won only one of their last 9 away games, England were looking like making that 1 in 10 unless they could come up with something special in the second half.

 

No changes were made over halftime, despite the seeming lack of ideas and inspiration from England but that would later change as the second half wore on. From the Australian restart, England looked brighter with Richards, Barkley and Brown all making inroads into the Australian defensive line. Unfortunately for England, Voyce took the ball into a ruck and was turned over, only for the Australians to be brought back within seconds for having hands in the ruck towards midfield.

 

England now moved the ball from the right wing to midfield through the hands of Sanderson, Richards and Mears then Catt made a poor pass out to Varndell, thankfully play being brought back for a Wallaby player coming in offside at the ruck.

 

Again looking nervous and less composed than usual, Barkley stepped up for the penalty. This time he made good on his attempt, bringing the score to 9-3. Another period of scrappy play followed the restart with both teams making errors and turning ball over. Barkley paid the price for hanging on to the ball in contact, giving Mortlock yet another chance to increase the margin between the two teams. Not one to miss many easy opportunities, Mortlock duly obliged the cheering Australian fans and kicked the goal to bring the score to 12-3.

 

Yet another England restart brought yet another England error. When Latham kicked to touch on the England ten-metre line, the Wallabies brought on Chisholm for Heenan and Mears made another mistake with his lineout throw, Smith making the most of the opportunity and making a run into midfield. The ball was recycled and Larkham chipped forward into the England 22 with Balshaw kicking away and in the process receiving a late challenge from Smith who had pre-jumped in an attempt to block the clearance.

 

Australia took the break for the penalty as the chance to haul off McIsaac and bring on Jeremy Paul as replacement hooker. A lineout inside the Aussie 22 brought a slight chance for England as the pick and drive maul steamed to within five metres of the Wallaby try line. The backs got their chance too with Richards winding out to Barkley who offloaded to Tait, the ball being dropped but subsequently recovered but Australia forced the turnover as Richards lost the ball in contact.

 

Butterfingers seemed to be the order of the day as Latham’s clearance was returned down the right wing, Richards offloading to Varndell and the Leicester winger losing the ball forward only to be eclipsed by Australia attacking through Larkham with Paul dropping the ball just to add to the fun.

 

As the game rolled up to fifty minutes elapsed, England suffered the ignominy of having their scrum thoroughly demolished by the Aussies, Julian White dropping his side of the scrum three times and Australia were to capitalise from the penalty.

 

Kicking to the England 22, Australia took the ball and drove from the lineout then good hands from Gregan and Larkham coupled with a beautifully-timed offload from Mortlock to Latham saw the Aussie fullback cross the line, dodging tackles from Barkley, Catt and Varndell before grounding the ball between the posts. Mortlock stepped up and made the conversion to take the score to 19-3. Australia were beginning to turn it on.

 

Tuqiri claimed the restart and Larkham cleared his lines out to the England ten-metre line. England replied through Barkley, Varndell and Balshaw before Australia were penalised for being off their feet at the ruck. England brought on Worsley and Jones for Lund and Brown and then put together their most consistent phases of play of the whole game. Entrenching themselves between the Aussie 22 and the ten-metre line, England attacked through almost twenty phases of play moving the ball around between the backs and forwards. Little forward progress was being made thanks to some stout defence from the Wallabies and Tait was victim to one very heavy tackle from Lote Tuqiri after a pass from Richards.

 

Possession again flitted between the two sides with the error count climbing for both England and the Wallabies. Gregan and Larkham combined well to gain a penalty for the Wallabies with Richards being driven backwards in the Aussie half and being penalised for holding on to the ball.

 

Kicking for touch just outside their own ten-metre line, Australia were put under increasing pressure as Jeremy Paul’s throw was judged to be not straight giving England a scrum. Goode came on to replace Barkley and England went through the phases again, Goode combining well with Tait and Catt before England were once more pinged for hanging on to the ball through Sanderson.

 

Latham was taken off in favour of Rathbone as the Aussies looked to press home their score advantage Larkham kicked a high cross-field ball which was dropped by Balshaw and at the subsequent breakdown, Tait was penalised for being off his feet in the ruck. Mortlock once more stepped up to the mark and kicked the penalty, taking the score to 22-3 with only ten or so minutes of the game left to play.

 

The Wallabies brought on the fierce and fiery Steve Waugh in place of Elsom but that didn’t stop England attacking from the restart through a powerful run from Chris Jones, the Sale man making excellent ground and bullocking his way to the Australian five-metre line through a combination of strong running and good supporting mauling from his England counterparts. All was looking good for another England score as the ball went through the hands of Richards, Goode and Catt before White knocked on, notching up yet another silly mistake from the England players.

 

As the last eighth of the game beckoned, Andy Robinson sent on Jamie Noon to form the midfield axis with his clubmate Mathew Tait, Mike Catt being the one to retire to the bench for the remainder of the game.

 

England were once more turned over at the breakdown and Mortlock fed Rathbone who made a good run before England were yet again pinged for entering the ruck from the side, Sanderson and Voyce both being possible culprits in this instance. Australia’s lineout was clean on halfway and the ball was passed along through the backs before being turned over. England put together half a dozen phases of play as they counter-attacked, Richards being busy around the breakdown until the ball came out wider to Voyce who knocked it on.

 

The Wallabies brought on Al Baxter for the resulting scrum within the England ten-metre line and it was from the scrum that the next score came: Rathbone running powerfully into left midfield after a lovely inside ball from Mortlock, Gerrard kicking forward, chasing and scoring the second try of his international career. Varndell was again the focus of the pundits for his missed tackles. Mortlock put the conversion over safely to give Australia a 29-3 lead which now put the Wallabies even further in the clear.

 

From the restart, Noon made his only real contribution to the game, knocking on after a run forward. Gregan, achieving his 119^th international cap, was replaced by Valentine and Australia once more dominated possession, Valentine, Baxter and Sharpe combining to drive the Wallabies deep into the England 22. Waugh then made a powerful run, passing well to give Rodzilla, the 23-stone behemoth from the Queensland Reds, an easy run at the line with only Tait to stop him. No one could blame Tait for his inability to stop Blake at full tilt given that Rodzilla is approximately the size and weight of an American chest freezer. Mortlock failed to add the points to what would be the last scoring move of the game, giving Australia a comprehensive 34-3 victory and leaving England with a whole lot of thinking to be done before the next Test in Melbourne in a week’s time.