England outsmart willing Wallabies
The 11-point win was the first ever by England in Brisbane and ensures the visitors head into next weekend's second Test with all the momentum. The Wallabies scored four tries to three but were second best for much of the game and were fortunate to get as close as they did.
Farrell kicked six penalties and three conversions in a near-faultless display in front of 48,700 fans at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium. England, who led 29-13 midway through the second half, almost let the match slip as Australia came storming back to get within four points at 32-28.
But they held firm and when replacement wing Jack Nowell crossed in the 80th minute, the visitors were able to celebrate taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series for the Cook Cup.
A win looked far from likely after Australia launched a ferocious attack in the opening few minutes, resulting in tries to flank Michael Hooper and fullback Israel Folau. England could barely get their hands on the ball and found themselves 10-0 down after only 10 minutes of play.
But the English finally got some possession midway through the half and were able to tighten the play up and string some phases together. They were rewarded for their effort when the Wallabies were penalised right in front and Farrell kicked a simple penalty.
He got his second minutes later to make it 10-6, but were lucky not to go further behind from the kick-off when Foley sprinted 40 metres to score in the corner. However, after asking for a replay, referee Romain Poite ruled that Rory Arnold had obstructed Luther Burrell in the lead-up and penalised the home side.
England kicked deep and when the Wallabies infringed again at the breakdown, Farrell added the three points to get to within a point of the Wallabies. The English were right back in the contest and they hit the lead after Folau threw a poor pass to nobody inside his 22.
Jonathan Joseph toed ahead and when Tevita Kuridrani couldn't collect, Joseph gathered the ball to cross out wide. Farrell converted to make it 16-10.
Foley closed the gap with a penalty but Farrell kicked his fourth right on half-time to send the visitors into the break six points clear. They started the second half as they finished the first, full of running against a flustered home side.
They were rewarded when Marland Yarde scored following a superb break up the middle from flank James Haskell and a long, floating pass to the right wing from replacement flyhalf George Ford. Farrell's conversion made it 26-13, five minutes after the restart.
The English pack were dominating and Australia were rocked when front row forward Scott Sio, who was under enormous pressure from Dan Cole in the scrum, was yellow carded for persistently bringing the scrum down.
A fifth Farrell penalty made it 29-13 but the Wallabies hit back when they finally got some quick ball and some slick backline work saw Hooper cross in the corner for his second to close the gap to 11 points.
Farrell opened the gap with his sixth penalty and a first win seemed certain as the visitors led 32-18. However, with nine minutes to go the Wallabies were in again when Kuridrani barged over. Foley's conversion made it 32-25 to England.
A Foley penalty closed the gap to 32-28 but England held firm for a famous victory.
Man of the match: Israel Folau was absolutely brilliant with ball in hand and made plenty of metres while Samu Kerevi should be pleased with his debut performance. Loose forward Michael Hooper was the Wallabies' top performer. Owen Farrell was deadly accurate with his boot once again while James Haskell and Billy Vunipola were the work horses in the engine room. But there was one player who was remarkable in every aspect of the match – Maro Itoje.
Moment of the match: Having found themselves trailing for most of the first half, it was the boot Owen Farrell that stood out to hand England a late first half lead that they never relinquished.
Villain of the match: Despite a yellow card and a few flair ups, not even Romain Poite put his hand up for this one.
Scorers:
For Australia:
Tries: Hooper 2, Folau, Kuridrani
Con: Foley
Pens: Foley 2
For England:
Tries: Joseph, Yarde, Nowell
Cons: Farrell 3
Pens: Farrell 6
Teams:
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 James Horwill, 20 Dean Mumm, 21 Sean McMahon, 22 Nick Frisby, 23 Christian Leali'ifano.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Marland Yarde, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Jack Nowell.
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Agence France-Presse
