Wallabies surge back to beat England

Reuters

VICTORY: Australia's captain Rocky Elsom celebrates with the Cook Cup after beating England.

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Australia completed the first leg of a potential grand slam when they produced a dominant second-half display to beat injury-hit England 18-9 at Twickenham this morning (NZ time).

A patched-up England side deservedly led 9-5 at halftime after two penalties and a drop goal from Jonny Wilkinson, with Australia managing only a try by livewire scrumhalf Will Genia.

The Wallabies, however, were a different side after the break and two penalties by Matt Giteau edged them ahead before a surging score in the corner by fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper completed their second successive Twickenham success.

Australia, who had lost six of their previous seven games, now face Ireland next weekend before games against Scotland and Wales as they seek to match the grand slam achievement of the famed 1984 side.

"We'd been close in every game in the Tri-Nations bar one so our big emphasis was on the second half," Giteau told Sky Sports.

"It (the grand slam) is definitely possible but it's not something we've spoken about yet."

A year ago, with England manager Martin Johnson new to the job, the Wallabies triumphed 28-14 here before England were also battered by South Africa and New Zealand.

Now, despite having to build a side around a trio of returning heroes of the 2003 World Cup and a group of youngsters, England looked a far more self-assured unit in the opening exchanges.

Wilkinson, making his first appearance since the 2008 Six Nations and his first in a November international for a remarkable seven years, picked up where he left off with a drop goal and a penalty in the first 10 minutes.

Australia barely mustered an attack in the first quarter but struck back when Genia scored his first international try after England fell asleep defending a ruck.

It was a rare bright spot for the tourists, however, as they continually fell foul of New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence.

Last November England were heavily punished by the boot of Giteau for giving away endless penalties but this time the count was 6-0 in favour of the hosts in the first half-hour and Wilkinson took advantage of another one to stretch the lead to 9-5.

The flyhalf then showed that his body really is back intact as he delivered two huge tackles as England defended their line just before halftime.

It was a different story in the second half though. Australia dominated possession with Genia growing in confidence and centre Quade Cooper a constant danger.

They managed to spill the ball twice with the tryline beckoning but Giteau's boot edged them into an 11-9 lead after an hour.

England were unable to create any sort of momentum and Australia capped their comeback with a 71st-minute try in the corner by Ashley-Cooper, who surged 20 metres through two tackles for the vital score.

Giteau nailed the conversion to take Australia nine clear and they had little trouble keeping the hosts at bay in the final minutes.

While Australia prepare for Dublin, England return to Twickenham next week to play Argentina.