England complete maiden Test series victory in Australia with 7-23 win
On his 50th cap, Chris Robshaw was adjudged as the man of the match.
©Press Association
Australia 7 - 23 England, Melbourne
Scorecard
England put up an incredible performance at AAMI Park on Saturday to complete their maiden Test series victory on Australia soil with a 7-23 win against the Wallabies.
The visitors enjoyed only 30 percent possession and made 230 tackles to 90 after being camped in their own 22 for the majority of the second half. Eleven times Australia put on seven phases or more, however, England's defence managed to hold-on the Wallabies attack.
An early infringement in the lineout on the 5th minute by Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu allowed England centre Owen Farrell a chance to open the scoring from 44m. Farrell, who is usually deadly with these kicks, missed on his opportunity by kicking it just to the right of the right upright.
A wild rumpus ensued of a ruck on the 12th minute when England scrum-half Ben Youngs and prop Dan Cole tackled Wallabies scrum-half Nick Phipps into the ground. Cole's jersey was ripped clean off. The scuffle prompted match referee Craig Joubert to have a word with both the captains.
18 minutes into the game, England finally managed to put together a few phases deep in Wallabies territory. The ploy worked for the visitors as England hooker and captain Dylan Hartley crossed over with a pushover try from the lineout.
Farrell added the extras as the visitors took a 7-point lead half-way into the first-half.
A penalty was awarded to England on the 30th minute of the game as Wallabies number eight Sean McMahon was caught off his feet. Farrell slotted it from a very kickable distance as the visitors extended their lead further to 10 points.
In more or less the same fashion, the Wallabies opened their account as hooker and captain Stephen Moore emerged from the pile of bodies to score a try.
Fly-half Bernard Foley made a successful conversion as the home side reduced the deficit down to just three points.
In the extra four minutes added to the first-half for the lost time, the England defence showed exemplary efforts to hold out 21 phases 10m out from the try line.
Although coach Eddie Jones' men edged the home side for the first 30 minutes, however, Michael Cheika's men managed to perform significant damage control in the final 14 minutes.
On 50th minute, match referee Joubert overruled Nigel Owens, his assistant on the touchline, who advised a look at "Twelve White" for an unnecessary contact on his attempt to cover the kick from Ford. It looked like a fairly contested high ball. However, Foley was pinged for changing his line. It looked fairly harmless, however, Joubert awarded a penalty to Farrell.
Farrell nailed the penalty to extend England's lead to six points.
Cole did a fabulous job and saved England from a possible try on the 61st minute with vital hands on ball to held up Wallabies.
England lock Maro Itoje conceded a penalty on the 63rd minute by coming off-the-feet. The Wallabies took a bold decision to go for the corner instead of securing three points. However, England defence once again came to it's side's rescue. Flankers James Haskell and Chris Robshaw did well to score a turnover with Robshaw kicking it forward into the touch.
With time running out of Wallabies hands, Christian Leali'ifano committed a costly handling error allowing Jones to make three changes.
It was less than five minutes to go for the final-whistle when Farrell bursting through from out of nowhere, aided by replacement hooker Jamie George's unbelievable forward chip, went on to score the historic try.
Farrell successfully made the conversion as England took an unassailable lead of 13 points with four minutes left on the clock.
Oozing confidence and belief, England number eight Billy Vunipola helped the visitors secure a penalty from the scrum on the penultimate minute of the game.
Farrell added three more to put a cherry on top of the icing as the scoreline read 7-23.
On his 50th cap, Robshaw was adjudged as the man of the match.
The historic first-ever series win in Australia has helped England to retain the Cook Cup as the two teams now move-on to Sydney for the concluding Test of the series to be played on next Saturday.
