Australia bounce back at Twickenham

Published: Saturday, 17. November, 2012 in category Southern Hemisphere

Australia bounced back from last week's hammering to beat England 20-14 in a scrappy affair at Twickenham on Saturday.

The win follows Australia's hammering at the hands of France last and while it wasn't always pretty to watch, under-fire coach Robbie Deans would take any victory at this stage.

While the teams scored one try each, the boot of Berrick Barnes clinched the deal - as he slotted four penalties and a left-footed drop-goal.

Wallaby captain Nathan Sharpe probably summed the match up in one line, when he said they had spoken all week about "character and resolve".

That Australia had in bucketloads. England, despite having plenty of chances to clinch the match, looked bereft of ideas and also, lacked the skills to land the killer blow.

More to follow...

The scorers:

For England:
Try:
Tuilagi
Pens: Flood 3

For Australia:
Try:
Cummins:
Pens: Barnes 4
DG: Barnes

Teams:

England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Charlie Sharples, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Mike Brown.

Australia: 15 Berrick Barnes, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Nick Cummins, 10 Kurtley Beale, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Sitaleki Timani, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Radike Samo, 20 Liam Gill, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Mike Harris, 23 Drew Mitchell.

Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Mathieu Raynal (France)
TMO: Jim Yuille (Scotland)