Australia 28-39 England
England fought back from 10 points down to make the perfect start to their Australian tour with a stunning win, inspired by a towering performance from James Haskell.
Australia utterly dominated the early stages, going over through Hooper and Folau as they took full control.
But Bernard Foley missed the two conversions and Farrell nailed three penalties to bring England within a point.
After some chaotic play in their own half, Australia handed England the lead and they exchanged penalties to send England in at half time with a six point buffer.
Early in the second half, George Ford whipped the ball wide to Marland Yarde to extend the lead after Haskell's brilliant break.
England extended the lead again, but Hooper scored his second to narrow the gap and Kuridrani set up a grandstand finish.
Australia went for the win, declining to go for the try and take a penalty that put them in winning, rather than drawing, range. But they lost the ball and reacted poorly to the advantage, giving Jack Nowell a try off the bench as England completed one of their all time great victories.
Stunning fight back helped by Aussie mistakes
England looked like they had never played together as they were torn apart by the pace and magic of the Australians. They were being bamboozled in the ruck, England were all over the place and it was a telling reminder of just how difficult it is to compete with southern hemisphere sides. Hooper was making yards with ease and Folau coasted through time after time, with one break resulting in the second try.
But England found themselves leading by six points 12 minutes later. They cut the gap to seven for not rolling away off their first real attack, and that was cut to four after they gained possession of a mistake from Israel Folau. After Bernard Foley had a try disallowed they cut the gap to 1 from the tee again, and kicked straight up field.
Suddenly Australia were down, there was a really loose pass from Folau to Foley, the ball went loose, Kuridrani fumbled it, Joseph hacked through and the ball popped up into his hands. Farrell provided the extras and England had robbed the lead through Australian mistakes.
A try early in the second half was the start of a dominant period for England, and whilst Australia made it nervy with two late tries, it was England who came through at the end. It was courtesy of another mistake from Australia though, who allowed Care to break through as they didn't play to the referees whistle for a knock on advantage. And Farrell had the space to find Nowell for the try that sealed it.
Stunning fight back helped by Aussie mistakes
England looked like they had never played together as they were torn apart by the pace and magic of the Australians. They were being bamboozled in the ruck, England were all over the place and it was a telling reminder of just how difficult it is to compete with southern hemisphere sides. Hooper was making yards with ease and Folau coasted through time after time, with one break resulting in the second try.
But England found themselves leading by six points 12 minutes later. They cut the gap to seven for not rolling away off their first real attack, and that was cut to four after they gained possession of a mistake from Israel Folau. After Bernard Foley had a try disallowed they cut the gap to 1 from the tee again, and kicked straight up field.
A comedy of errors gifted England the lead, and they didn't lose it from there
A try early in the second half was the start of a dominant period for England, and whilst Australia made it nervy with two late tries, it was England who came through at the end. It was courtesy of another mistake from Australia though, who allowed Care to break through as they didn't play to the referees whistle for a knock on advantage. And Farrell had the space to find Nowell for the try that sealed it.
Heroic Haskell
James Haskell was utterly superb, from a massive hit on Pocock inside 2 minutes, he was unbelievably motivated. Every second ball was contested by him but there were some particularly incredible moments among this immense display.
It was his break that helped England get within a few yards of the Australian try line to give them the position for that crucial second try.
He also made vital turnovers, most notably at 29-18 up with Australia threatening to score a second try in 5 minutes and another that helped England go 14 points clear.
He made some unbelievable defensive tackles which kept England 14 points clear as the game ticked down, halting the Australian fight back.
He finished with 18 tackles, twice as much as any other player. He also carried sensationally and made vital turnovers, it was the example of the perfect open side performance.
Kicking Contrast
Bernard Foley got the Australian line going superbly in the opening period as England were being completely outplayed. He looked to have scored a stunner to make it three tries to nil but it was rightly chalked off.
But his kicking off the tea was more like the game against the Scots than his previous magic against England. He missed 3 conversions, most notably the first two kept England right in the game when they should have been a beaten side.
Conversely, Owen Farrell nailed all but one kick, that hit the post. That miss put the Australians under huge pressure and from the resulting line out, Haskell made his game-changing break.
Farrell continued to slot penalties that firstly kept England in it, and then kept their lead enough to give Australia a really tough mountain to climb, he defended superbly as well, and George Ford, who also played superbly, provided an excellently executed grubber to give England the victory at the end.
First Blood to England
It was a massive win for England and gives them the lead in what is set to be a tight series. Australia will be downbeat but they can look to simple errors being cut out as a way of improving their play. You could tell the England players have been playing Finals and Test Matches in May and that Australia weren't.
England go on to Melbourne next week, can they seal the series there or will it come down to a decider in Sydney, the site of their World Cup victory nearly 13 years ago.
Australia Ratings: Folau 7/10, Haylett-Petty 6, Kirudrani 8, Kerevi 6, Horne 6, Foley 6, Phipps 7, Sio 4, Moore 7, Holmes 6, Arnold 6, Simmons 7, Fardy 5, Hooper 8, Pocock 7
Australia Total: 96/150
England Ratings: Brown 7/10, Watson 6, Joseph 7, Burrell 5, Yarde 7, Farrell 7, Youngs 7, M Vunipola 6, Hartley 7, Cole 7, Itoje 8, Kruis 6, Robshaw 7, Haskell 10, Vunipola 7
England Total: 104/150
James Haskell was utterly superb, from a massive hit on Pocock inside 2 minutes, he was unbelievably motivated. Every second ball was contested by him but there were some particularly incredible moments among this immense display.
It was his break that helped England get within a few yards of the Australian try line to give them the position for that crucial second try.
He also made vital turnovers, most notably at 29-18 up with Australia threatening to score a second try in 5 minutes and another that helped England go 14 points clear.
He made some unbelievable defensive tackles which kept England 14 points clear as the game ticked down, halting the Australian fight back.
He finished with 18 tackles, twice as much as any other player. He also carried sensationally and made vital turnovers, it was the example of the perfect open side performance.
Kicking Contrast
Bernard Foley got the Australian line going superbly in the opening period as England were being completely outplayed. He looked to have scored a stunner to make it three tries to nil but it was rightly chalked off.
But his kicking off the tea was more like the game against the Scots than his previous magic against England. He missed 3 conversions, most notably the first two kept England right in the game when they should have been a beaten side.
Conversely, Owen Farrell nailed all but one kick, that hit the post. That miss put the Australians under huge pressure and from the resulting line out, Haskell made his game-changing break.
Farrell's one miss led to the second try
Farrell continued to slot penalties that firstly kept England in it, and then kept their lead enough to give Australia a really tough mountain to climb, he defended superbly as well, and George Ford, who also played superbly, provided an excellently executed grubber to give England the victory at the end.
First Blood to England
It was a massive win for England and gives them the lead in what is set to be a tight series. Australia will be downbeat but they can look to simple errors being cut out as a way of improving their play. You could tell the England players have been playing Finals and Test Matches in May and that Australia weren't.
England go on to Melbourne next week, can they seal the series there or will it come down to a decider in Sydney, the site of their World Cup victory nearly 13 years ago.
Australia Ratings: Folau 7/10, Haylett-Petty 6, Kirudrani 8, Kerevi 6, Horne 6, Foley 6, Phipps 7, Sio 4, Moore 7, Holmes 6, Arnold 6, Simmons 7, Fardy 5, Hooper 8, Pocock 7
Australia Total: 96/150
England Ratings: Brown 7/10, Watson 6, Joseph 7, Burrell 5, Yarde 7, Farrell 7, Youngs 7, M Vunipola 6, Hartley 7, Cole 7, Itoje 8, Kruis 6, Robshaw 7, Haskell 10, Vunipola 7
England Total: 104/150
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