England beat Australia 25-7 at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham in their opening match of the 2025 Quilter Nations Series.
Tries from Ben Earl, Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Luke Cowan-Dickie, as well as five points from the boot of George Ford regained the Ella-Mobbs Trophy, and extended England’s winning run to eight games.
The opening 20 minutes was scoreless as both sides jostled for supremacy, though England looked more dominant. Ill discipline at the breakdown had given Steve Borthwick’s men easy entry into the Wallaby 22, only sharp defence from captain Harry Wilson denied Joe Heyes from what looked to be a certain score.
That indiscretion at the ruck continued, as referee Nika Amashukeli penalised fly half Tane Edmed for holding on, allowing his opposite man Ford to bang over a three-pointer from 35-metres.
The score sparked England into life, as from the restart a Mitchell box kick was chased and regathered by Tom Roebuck, who immediately shifted the ball to Sam Underhill, who in turn offloaded into the path of the onrushing Earl. The Saracen cantered away, and was untouched on his journey to the try line. Ford’s extras made it 10-0
England entered into a period of defence, and were tenacious, as they thwarted surge after surge of Wallaby attack, Jamie George and Underhill forcing pivotal turnovers.
Earl was held up over the line on the half hour mark, as wing Potter made a remarkable tackle, and moments later the Western Force man snatched up a wayward Fraser Dingwall pass five metres from his own line, before sprinting away unopposed to claim the Aussies’ first score of the match. Edmed landed the conversion cutting the deficit to three, striking a momentum-shifting blow.
At half time the stats from England Rugby’s Match Centre showed a tough Test – whilst England had made 141 more metres and beat seven more defenders than their opponents, Australia boasted the higher share of possession, as well as more carries, passes and offloads.
Ten minutes into the resumption Borthwick unloaded his bench, stacked with British & Irish Lions, as England looked to take control of the Test match – and it didn’t take long for them to impose themselves.
Another Mitchell box kick was chased by Roebuck, who flicked the ball back toward his team, when Pollock retrieved it from ankle height. Despite being floored by an Andrew Kellaway tap-tackle, the Northampton Saint found stability and flew over for his second Test try in as many games.
Mitchell claimed England’s third try with seven minutes remaining, off the back of a five-metre lineout rolling maul, he sniped off the back and broke to the blind side, overwhelming second row Nick Frost to the delight of Allianz Stadium.
And two minutes later, Cowan-Dickie – on his 50th Test cap – confirmed England’s win, the benefactor at the back of a monumental rolling maul from 25-metres out. Pollock was shown a yellow card with the clock in the red as Australia went in search of a consolation score, but the men in white held firm to deny the visitors.
Next up for England is Fiji on Saturday 8 November, before Tests against New Zealand (Saturday 15 November) and Argentina (Sunday 23 November).
