England’s Henry Pollock gamble pays off in Australia rout

England 45-22 Australia TWICKENHAM — England began their autumn programme in the Nations Championship with a seven-try demolition of an unimpressive Australia, with emergency wing Henry Pollock scoring twice in the second half. But injuries to two England backs, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Seb Atkinson, partly punctured the euphoria of an impressive attacking display. Putting away Australia, ranked seventh in the world, should have been a straightforward task for England on home turf. Yet little has seemed straightforward this year, with defeats by Scotland, Ireland, Italy, France and South Africa underlining how England, fifth in the rankings, are struggling to reach the top echelon. Add a newspaper article on Thursday alleging discontent within the squad over head coach Steve Borthwick’s management, and there was a distinct feeling of a capacity crowd filing quietly into Twickenham, arms folded and waiting to be convinced of England’s potential. The new global competition, which culminates in a final here between teams from the northern and southern hemispheres at the end of the month, offers a snapshot of the relative strengths of the world’s best. Anyone who had followed ITV’s blanket free-to-air coverage earlier in the weekend would have seen New Zealand, Ireland, France and South Africa already demonstrate what they do best. England showed in the first half, to nobody’s surprise, that they know how to create and finish tries from line-out mauls.Front-rowers Jamie George and Joe Heyes plunged over in the eighth and 33rd minutes. In between came another England try, finished by flanker Ollie Chessum after a counter-attack from an Australian clearance kick. It showcased Feyi-Waboso’s magnificent line-breaking ability and the quick ruck speed England know they need. Injuries have kept Feyi-Waboso out of the England team for large chunks of the past two years, much to Borthwick’s frustration, but the Exeter Chiefs wing burst through after barely a minute, only for his try to be ruled out for an earlier forward pass. The way Feyi-Waboso beat defenders and straightened attacks, sometimes doubling up in the same channel as fellow wing Tommy Freeman, gave a promisingly dangerous focus to a backline guided by fly-half Fin Smith and featuring George Furbank as a second ball-player. Then came another calamity. On 31 minutes, Australia prop Angus Bell caught Feyi-Waboso with a hip-drop tackle, twisting his lower limbs in a manner recently highlighted by World Rugby’s refereeing directives. Bell was sent to the sin-bin and escaped a more severe punishment after contact with Feyi-Waboso was ruled indirect. It was nevertheless bad news for Feyi-Waboso and England, as their most potent attacking threat was left limping heavily. He just about made it to half-time, but it was clear that would be his limit, forcing England to deploy their contingency plan of back-rower Pollock on the wing for the second half. Australia broke out rarely, but Max Jorgensen intercepted Jack van Poortvliet just before half-time to score and give the visitors a foothold. England, still playing against 14 men, went 26-10 ahead two minutes after the restart, with Furbank, Henry Slade and Freeman combining smoothly to send Van Poortvliet over. Japan visit on Saturday, followed by New Zealand a week later, will provide a sterner test than the wobbly Wallabies, who were comfortably beaten by the All Blacks in their two most recent outings. England avoided a yellow card for only the third time in 13 matches over the past 12 months, another encouraging sign for Borthwick as he attempts to steer his rocking ship into calmer waters. You would be anxious about asking Pollock to defend against the All Blacks, but there can be no argument over his pace and skill. He collected a wild pass to dart over for England’s fifth try on 54 minutes, then sprinted in after a skilful Slade set-up two minutes later. Read more James Haskell: Having a daughter is an emotional hand grenade Chris Robshaw: Prince Harry turned up to our England crisis meeting There can, after all, be fun moments in following England. But the sight of inside centre Atkinson limping off with 17 minutes remaining was not one of them. Borthwick and attack coach Lee Blackett must now immediately rejig a backline which, in style and structure, looked very promising in this comfortable victory. The looseness that allowed Australia to snatch two late tries through Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams was another warning, but replacement scrum-half Ben Spencer’s interception ensured England had the final word.