England 21 defeated Australia 15
@ Twickenham, London on Sat 10th November 2001

Here's what I'd like to say about this match: it sucked.

And I'd also love to point out that there's more honour in losing with two tries than winning with penalty goals and field goals. I'd love to ruminate over the high number of penalties the Wallabies copped as a reason to feel that we was robbed. I'd love to stew over the inconsistency in the refereeing, particularly with regard to the way their tackled players were consistently illegally protecting the ball at the breakdown by passing it back between their legs without penalty, but that we got penalised for one apparent offence in the second half.

You have no idea how much I want to feel cheated, indignant, and, most of all, furious. But in reality I just feel...jaded.

I simply can't muster the energy to thunder on about how we deserved to win because we're the world champions yada yada yada. Because, to put a fine point on it, we didn't deserve to win. Indeed, we didn't deserve to be within a country mile of England's total. Never mind the two tries. Sadly, they were just aberrations, scored against the general run of play. Only for about five minutes of the match - about ten minutes into the second half, and five minutes from the game's end - did the Wallabies play like a champion team, with vision, composure, skill and discipline.

And I guess that's what gets me the most about this loss and last year's loss - which, while that final try was definitely not a try, England nevertheless deserved to win - the fact is that we are so much better than our play in England would otherwise indicate. You and I know that the Wallabies have talent to burn and can play sublime rugby. Why is it then, with a match of this magnitude (and don't believe Eddie Jones when he says that this is just another test match - the Wallabies were hoping to make an emphatic statement here in the lead-up to RWC 2003)...why is it that the Wallabies seem unable to lift themselves? I just don't have the answer to that one.

It galls me to admit it, but England were deserved winners on the day. Easily. They played one of the most dominant halves of rugby that I have seen since...since the First Test against the Lions. They had a jaw-dropping 77% possession in the first half, completely shutting out the Wallabies. No ball = no opportunity to score. It was just horrible to watch. Horrible.

Our boys were outgunned, outthought, and outplayed from the opening whistle, and while a resurgence of sorts was mounted in the second half, the match was effectively lost at half time with England posting a morale-crushing lead of 15-nil. Zero points - I can't remember too many matches in the last few years where Australia have failed to post a single point in 40 minutes of rugby.

England had a plan - a boring plan, yes - but a simple plan that they executed faultlessly. Kick for territory. Keep turning the Wallabies around, and play inside their half until they coughed up the inevitable penalty. We'll have a kick at goal please, sir. Wilkinson to the plate. Three points, thank you very much. Or, alternatively, create a platform in attack that gives young Wilkinson a look at a field goal...or two - off both feet!

So, no surprises here. The English Formula to Achieving Success on the Rugby Field. Predictable yet effective. Of surprise was their inability to use their much-vaunted backline pace and mobility to actually score tries. But I guess that when you're on a winner, you stick to it. Still, they tried to move the ball around - even came close to scoring a couple of times - but the Wallaby defence was ultimately far too disciplined to let them through.

However, of far greater surprise was their skill at retaining possession and building multi-phase play. The Wallabies are struggling to assert themselves at the breakdown this year, and have frequently fallen foul of the referee in endeavouring to steal the ball. And no claims of Northern Hemisphere refereeing bias can be made on this occasion - as a team, we like Paddy. This is something that the team is going to have to address urgently. For when you have a kicker with the range and accuracy of Wilkinson on the opposing team, penalties at the breakdown won't just disrupt your play, they will prove your downfall. And so it was for the Wallabies. The way that England was recycling the ball, you could've sworn that you were watching the Brumbies, except the pay-off was goals not tries. England were simply too skilfull at the breakdown, and left the Wallabies in no doubt that they have to lift this aspect of their game because England, at least, has left them for dead in this area.

Nevertheless, in spite of all this on-field misery, there was still a glimmer of hope. Surely, I thought, the Wallabies couldn't pull another improbable victory out of the bag. Sadly, I was right. As Simon Poidevin pointed out during the Channel 7 telecast, the Wallabies weren't playing well enough to be a realistic shot of stealing an on-the-final-whistle try. Or, rather, England was playing too well to permit that to happen.

Finally, a brief summary of the individual performances of the Wallabies:

- Matt Burke: his goal-kicking was below-par, but the the rest of his game was outstanding. Superb positional play, intelligent kicking, and solid defence, with a try to boot.
- Joe Roff: defended and kicked well but couldn't get it going in attack.
- Chris Latham: didn't see enough ball to have any impact at all.
- Dan Herbert: solid but unspectacular. Great defence, but not making enough breaks as outside centre.
- Nathan Grey: a flawed but passionate performance. Seemed to be covering more of the field than any other player. Made some mistakes, as he often does, but made up for them with sheer determination.
- Steve Larkham: another poor performance from Bernie. The magic just hasn't been there this year. In-your-face defence has shut him down to the extent that he is no longer a major factor. Much of the Wallabies' woes can be traced back to the fact that so many of their plays revolve around Larkham, so that when he's ineffective, so too is the Wallabies' offensive execution.
- George Gregan: masterful in defence, but not one of his best games. Some odd choices in attack at times. To be fair, it's hard for George to get his backline moving if he's not getting quality ball from his forwards, which he was not.
- George Smith: couldn't even make a dent at the breakdown. Managed only one turnover, from memory.
- The rest of the forward pack: outclassed by their opposite numbers.
- Honourable mentions: Matt Cockbain was dynamic whilst on the field, and Phil Waugh had an immediate impact, including a well-timed lunge for the try line.

- Dan Fowell