Cook class

EDDIE ROASTS AUSSIES England .............. 30 Australia .............. 6 by Gary Fitzgerald

EDDIE JONES heaped praise on his men after they pulled off their biggest win over the Aussies and Dylan Hartley lifted the Cook Cup.

Tries from Elliot Daly, Jonathan Joesph, Jonny May and Danny Care were only half of the story on a controversial afternoon.

But the England boss said: “We deserved the win. It was a close game and they had chances to get some tries but I thought the guys were outstanding.

“It was always going to be a very tough contest and we had to be ready for a battle.

“It’s always very enjoyable when you beat one of the top sides like Australia. People said we took a few steps backwards last week but that was certainly a few steps forward!”

But his Aussie rival Michael Cheika was left furious with referee Ben O’Keefe and got involved in angry exchanges with a few fans as he left his seat before the end of the clash.

Cheika, who was annoyed at O’Keefe for allowing an England try and disallowing two for his side, was escorted away having turned around to confront someone who had clearly made comments he did not like.

Jones, however, was smiling having seen his men make it two wins out of two this autumn – and 22 in 23 Tests.

Aussie Jones has now won all five clashes against the team he used to coach.

All four England tries came in the second half – after the score was 6-0 at the interval – as they performed a late, late show to finally overwhelm their rivals.

The scoreline flattered the hosts at the final whistle as they survived a string of Aussie near-misses but England retain second spot in the world rankings behind world champions New Zealand.

Australia had two men sent to the sin bin in the opening half – captain Michael Hooper and full-back Kurtley Beale – as rain made the ball and field slippery.

While the Aussies tried their best to open the game up, the conditions won the day.

England led thanks to two Owen Farrell penalties but lost flanker Sam Underhill to a head injury early in the first half with Maro Itoje replacing him.

The visitors were incensed when O’Keefe ruled that Hooper was offside when he slid over and touched the ball down.

Cheika sarcastically clapped the referee from his seat and he was upset further when Hooper was then sin-binned.

England finished strongly with three late tries, Joseph winning the race to a Care punt forward and May and then Care himself going over.