Shattered Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson conceded his team “didn’t fire a shot” after being smashed by a rampant England in a huge 45-22 defeat at Twickenham.
asserted
team → concede → Twickenham
There was to be no repeat of the Wallabies’ 2024 heroics at the famous venue on a woeful afternoon from the Australian side, who were dominated in all facets of play by England.
asserted
who → be → England
The hosts repeatedly picked apart Australia’s shoddy defence, both wide and narrow, and scored seven tries to three.
asserted
hosts → pick → three
Two consolation tries to the Wallabies in the last quarter appeared to have saved the Wallabies from the embarrassment of a record margin of defeat (24 points), but a late intercept try to Ben Spencer saw England secure some history in a different way, with their biggest ever score against the Wallabies.
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England → appear → Wallabies
Despite a lacklustre opening 40 minutes, Australia were still in the contest at half-time after Max Jorgensen scored an intercept to make the score 19-10.
asserted
score → score → intercept
But any hope of a further fightback in the second half was dashed when they gave up another simple try soon after the break, and when flashy back-rower Henry Pollock – who was deployed as a winger – scored two tries in three minutes midway through the second half, the contest was over.
asserted
contest → dash → half
Late tries to Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams in the last quarter bolstered the Wallabies’ score, but it was far too little, and far too late.
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it → bolster → score
The Wallabies’ attack wasn’t any better than their defence, and their game-long struggle to exit their half gave England ample opportunity to build pressure and score.
asserted
struggle → exit → pressure
Most of the Wallabies’ promising opportunities in attack were ruined by a steady stream of errors or penalties.
asserted
Most → ruin → errors
The decision to bench powerhouse back-rower Rob Valetini was exposed as a never-to-be-repeated mistake by the Wallabies’ inability to make any headway against a strong England defence.
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decision → bench → defence
In one of several telling stats, Australia didn’t enter England’s quarter until the 37th minute of the game.
asserted
Australia → enter → game
England missed just two of 81 tackles in the opening half, and the only line break conceded was Jorgensen’s intercept.
asserted
break → miss → half
Australia’s other main carrier, Angus Bell, was sin-binned for a hip-drop tackle before half-time.
“We struggled to get our game going, England put us under the pump in the first half and we didn’t get too many a-zone entries,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said in an on-field interview.
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Wilson → bin → interview
They fronted up physically.
asserted
They → front → ?
Our defence wasn’t physical enough, and we didn’t slow the ball down.
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we → slow → ball
Speaking later at the media conference, Wilson said the Wallabies had been thoroughly outplayed by a strong England, but couldn’t put his finger on why.
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Wallabies → speak → why
“It is really disappointing,” he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
“We didn’t really fire a shot, in that first half and I guess we were really excited to go out there and try and fire some shots and really back our game.
asserted
we → fire → game
“England put us in tough field position.
asserted
England → put → position
It felt like we’re always trying to exit, get out of our end.
asserted
we → feel → end
“I am really disappointed because I expect better from us, and we’ve got to take those learnings next week into Scotland because we know when we’re at our best and we’re backing our game and we’re really putting teams under threat.”
asserted
we → disappoint → threat
Wallabies coach Les Kiss said: “England pinned us well.
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England → say → us
They controlled that field position, and put pressure on us at different times.
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They → control → times
We just didn’t get going, particularly in the first half.
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We → go → half
“I give a lot of credit to England, the way they imposed their plan on us and didn’t give us a chance to impose what we would like to have done with the ball”.
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we → give → ball
“Our training all week was really about making sure we found those opportunities that we believed was in the defence line of England.
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we → make → England
We just didn’t really fire a shot to get to those spaces.
asserted
We → fire → spaces
“
The Wallabies trailed 19-10 at half-time after a sloppy opening 40 minutes in which they were lucky to not concede more than three tries.
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they → trail → tries
England were immediately on the attack and had a second try scratched for an earlier forward pass.
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try → have → pass
But after an obstruction penalty, England kicked to the corner and rolled in a try to hooker Jamie George in the 8th minute.
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England → kick → minute
Ryan Lonergan banged over a penalty in the 10th minute but Australia’s exits continued to be poor, and though Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii was doing well catching contestable kicks, the Wallabies attack run by Declan Meredith was tentative and disorganised.
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attack → bang → Meredith
It seemed a matter of time that England would reap more dividend from their territory dominance, and that came via an Ollie Chessum try in the 25th minute in the left corner.
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that → seem → corner
It came from more defensive spacing problems that left an extra man on the end for England after sustained phases.
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that → come → phases
The Wallabies’ problems got worse when Bell was sin-binned in the 32nd minute for a hip-drop tackle, which have just been outlawed in rugby.
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which → get → rugby
It was not upgraded to red but Australia paid a price anyway, with England again kicking to the corner and rolling in another try to prop Joe Heyes.
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England → upgrade → Heyes
Jorgensen’s try helped the Wallabies enter the sheds with some confidence, but it quickly faded after oranges when more gaps in the defence saw England halfback Jack Van Poortvliet score in the 42nd minute.
asserted
Poortvliet → help → minute
Pollock’s two tries in the 54th and 57th minute ended the contest.
asserted
tries → end → contest
The entry of Daugunu and Ben Donaldson in the last 25 minutes saw the Wallabies attack begin to throw better punches, and the Reds winger scored.
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winger → see → punches
Jeremy Williams also crossed after a long-range attack.
asserted
Williams → cross → attack
But Daugunu gave away a try to England in the dying stages by trying to pop an offload that was intercepted by Ben Spencer.
asserted
that → give → Spencer
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
