Pollock wings it as England outplay Wallabies
MATCH REPORT: Henry Pollock came off the bench to score two of England’s seven tries as they overwhelmed Australia 45-22 in their November Nations Championship opener at Twickenham on Sunday to ease the pressure on coach Steve Borthwick.
England kicked off with Borthwick in the spotlight after his side had lost five of their eight previous Tests in 2026, with senior players such as returning captain Maro Itoje having to deny newspaper reports this week of a “toxic environment” caused by the coach’s management style.
But Jamie George, Ollie Chessum, Joe Heyes and Jack van Poortvliet all crossed Australia’s tryline before Pollock, best known as a back-row forward, struck twice after replacing injured wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso at half-time.
Fellow replacement Ben Spencer went over for his first Test try four minutes from time as England piled up their record points tally against Australia, surpassing the 44 they managed in a 44-40 win in Sydney 2016.
More to follow…
Player of the match: The award goes to England centre Henry Slade, who terrorised the Wallabies with ball in hand, and he was a leader in defence as well.
The scorers:
For England:
Tries: George, Chessum, Heyes, Van Poortvliet, Pollock 2, Spencer
Cons: F Smith 5
For Australia:
Tries: Jorgensen, Daugunu, Williams
Cons: Lonergan, Donaldson
Pen: Lonergan
Yellow card: Angus Bell (Australia, 33′ – foul play, hip-drop tackle)
Teams:
England: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Alex Coles, 4 Maro Itoje (captain), 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Jamie George, 1 Fin Baxter.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Will Stuart, 19 George Martin, 20 Greg Fisilau, 21 Henry Pollock, 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Marcus Smith.
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Isaac Henry, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 10 Declan Meredith, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Jeremy Williams, 5 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 4 Josh Canham, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Valetini, 20 Carlo Tizzano, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Filipo Daugunu.
Referee: Pierre Brousset (France)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Jérémy Rozier (France)
TMO: Tual Trainini (France)
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