England v Australia through the decades
1909: England lose 9-3 at Blackheath
The first Test match between the two nations and the last Test ever held at the Rectory Field Blackheath. The Aussies were coming towards the end of a 39match tour of Europe and North America and along the way had also won the first Olympic gold medal for rugby, beating Cornwall 32-3 at the White City. Here they were too good for an England team weakened by unavailabilities, with wing Chris Russell scoring twice and flanker Norm Row adding a third. Edgar Mobbs scored England’s try.
1948: England lose 11-0 at Twickenham
As in 1909 there were 13 New South Wales players and two from Queensland in this notable Australia win which concluded the British section of a ninemonth 39-game world tour. There were 70,000 at a packed Twickenham but England squandered a host of chances and were made to pay by the well-drilled Aussies with Colin Windon scoring twice and another for Alan Walker. In their four matches against the Home Unions Australia didn’t concede a try, although they did lose 6-0 to Wales in Cardiff.
1958: England win 9-6 at Twickenham
Always known as Peter Jackson’s match on account of his dramatic late winner after England, through injuries, were reduced to 14 players after half an hour. Jackson received the ball wide on the right deceived Rod Phelps with a swerve and hand off, wrong-footed Ted Curley as he tiptoed down the touchline and then dived past Phelps who had recovered to challenge again to complete the try which always gets a mention when the top ten England scores are debated.
1975: England lose 30-21 at Ballymore
The infamous Battle of Ballymore which followed a pretty physical encounter in Sydney a week earlier with Australia opting for out-and-out violence and intimidation. Ironically it was an Englishman, Peter Horton, who learned his rugby at St Luke’s college, who was one of the ringleaders for Australia. Mike Burton tried to meet fire with fire and became the first Englishman sent off in a Test match. Reduced to 14 men from early on England actually did quite well to limit the damage.
1988: England win 28-19 at Twickenham
England were all over the place after RWC1987 and lost the 1988 series 2-0 in Australia after which coach Geoff Cooke turned to a 22-year-old centre with a handful of caps – Will Carling – for their next encounter. Whether it was that appointment alone or a determination to finally start fulfilling their potential who knows but England finally produced a powerful, vivid performance, to comfortably deal with the Aussies. A concussed Carling had to leave before the final whistle but a new dawn had broken.
1991: England lose 12-6 at Twickenham
The second World Cup final and Australia were convincing if unspectacular winners. England, after rather grinding their way to the final, tried to up the pace against Australia and ‘play’ more rugby with skipper Will Carling leading the way, but Australia weren’t remotely inconvenienced by that and comfortably resisted. Might England have done better stuffing the ball up their jerseys? Probably not, this was a terrific Aussie team capable of winning every which way, but the debate continues!
2000: England win 22-19 at Twickenham
An important victory for England, their first against the Aussies since the 1995 World Cup quarter-final. England needed to get back on the horse after RWC1999 and this narrow and slightly contentious win accelerated that process. The key moment came right at the end when Dan Luger followed up to touch down an Iain Balshaw kick ahead. Referee Andre Watson wasn’t sure, so for the first time in a Test match in Britain the ‘video ref’ was called in adjudicate. Try England.
2003: England win 20-17 at Sydney
England finally take the World Cup, and in dramatic style. Martin Johnson’s team had schooled Australia in Melbourne in the summer of 2003 – England’s first win in Australia – but the Aussies, coached by Eddie Jones, were much improved and battled their way back from 17-5 down to take this to the wire in extra time. It needed the England pack to ruthlessly work field position and for Jonny Wilkinson to keep his nerve to land the dropped goal and the ultimate prize.
2015: England lose 33-13 at Twickenham
England’s world cup challenge in the ‘Pool of Death’ had floundered badly in their first big test against Wales when they had failed to grab even the draw that was on offer but the Aussies took great relish in finishing them off with this outstanding performance and win which, among other things, saw Bernard Foley at his very best with a 28-point haul including two absolutely cracking tries. England, to the huge disappointment of the Twickenham crowd, weren’t really at the races.
2016: England win 44-40 at Sydney
England under Eddie Jones had bounced back in impressive style with a Six Nations title and had already closed out the series in Australia by winning the first two Tests when they met again in Sydney. Aussie pride was at stake and they threw the kitchen sink at an England side that could have been excused for mentally being on the plane home. Australia outscored England five tries to four but Owen Farrell was remorseless with the boot, kicking six penalties as well as converting three of the tries.