Following Australia’s dramatic 42-37 win over Steve Borthwick’s England, here are our five takeaways from the game at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham.

The top line

A brilliant display by the ninth-ranked side in the world playing away at Twickenham saw Australia score in the last moments of the match as Len Ikitau broke and offloaded down the left flank to send Max Jorgenson flying over to break the hearts of England.

Australia stayed in the fight, they played with ambition, led by their brilliant back-row and aided and abetted by both centres who delivered special performances with Joseph Suaalii demonstrating exactly why he’s being fast tracked with such glee by Joe Schmidt.

The collisions were massive, huge, devastating – but the big question, without taking anything away from the resilience and desire of the Wallabies, will be how on earth can England ship 42 points at home against a team so lowly ranked?

England yet again lost a game from a position they should have won from – their closeout in the last 20 minutes is threatening to rival Covid-19 in its ability to neuter an entire nation. Sure, they might be uncomfortable about one of the tries, but they failed to control big moments, notably Maro Itoje, outstanding in many aspects, making a complete Horlicks of the last restart, the start of the move that saw Australia make the 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁er blow.

Back-row battle

Both of these teams have some real weaponry in their back-row armoury and the battle between both sets of loose forwards proved to be a gladiatorial contest from the highest drawer.

For England, Chandler Cunningham-South was immense – and not just in try scoring. He has a habit of making crucial interventions, whether they be melting hits in midfield, thundering carries in the wide channels and sweeping up scraps around the fringes of rucks. Best of all, he scores tries regularly, something that England have lacked in their back-row, Ben Earl aside, for some time.

Australia gave as good as they got with Fraser McReight producing an epic display of the openside’s art on both sides of the ball, a perpetual thorn in the backside of the England half-backs and midfield. Harry Wilson was an eager cohort, scoring one for himself, whilst McReight’s miracle offloading gave Jeremy Williams the chance to score in the corner, despite the TV replays showing that his right foot was clearly and obviously in touch. Somehow Ben O’Keeffe, a man who has a significant history in making errors under pressure – just ask France about O’Keeffe in their World Cup quarter-final – deemed it to not be conclusive and opted to stay with his on-field decision.

Rob Valetini, the third member of the brilliant Wallaby trio, might have inadvertently made the biggest dent of all, as his left knee smashed Tom Curry, a man having another big game, unconscious. It was a worrying moment for Curry – his second clear concussion in a matter of seven weeks and something that the England and Sale medical staff will be incredibly concerned about.

Replacement strategy

England have talked a great game in the week about learning to close games out and how to improve their close out of big games. But, yet again they fell apart after a promising 30 minutes where they showed some glimpses of their attacking ability, with Marcus Smith, Cunningham-South and Ollie Lawrence shining in attack.

However, the loss of Curry early in the first half crippled England’s breakdown offensive. Alex Dombrandt, a front foot eight on one of his better days, had one of those days where everything he touched, whether it be control at the base or taking passes, failed to stick.

There were glimpses of magic from Cunningham-South and Ollie Sleightholme, who surely must start against South Africa, as they grabbed a brace apiece. But once England’s power players, Curry, George Martin and Ellis Genge, trotted off, so the intensity went with them, with Nick Isiekwe, Fin Baxter and Dombrandt simply unable to get any form of purchase into the game.

Contrast that with Australia: Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Tate McDermott, Jorgenson, James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa really upping the tempo of the match, with Ben Donaldson adding some real touches of visionary class in the backline.

Once again, England were outthought and out muscled 16 to 23 and it’s a combination of both timing and personnel that’s 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing England in the last quarter and, with the infamous bomb squad ahead of them next weekend, they need to sort this out and darn quickly.

Statistical nightmares

Steve Borthwick likes his stats, but on Saturday night, his spreadsheets of the game will surely be filed in the ‘horror’ section of his library.

35 missed tackles and 24 unforced handling errors tell everything about the abysmal execution of basic s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁s.

Six line breaks to 13 tells you everything you need to know about the ambition and effectiveness of the respect attacks versus the midfield and blitz defence. And, wait for it, the game saw a phenomenal 32 turnovers, 19 conceded by the home team.

For a man who admits he coaches by stats, the numbers are absolutely horrific and they must allude to a complete breakdown in the defensive systems implemented by Joe El-Abd, coupled with some desperate s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 execution by seasoned Test veterans.

It’s easy to hide behind effort and it’s easy to hide behind selective stats, but the ones that matter tell a tale of absolute misery, something England needs to attend to quickly and effectively, otherwise next weekend might see a cricket score conceded at the Cabbage Patch as they host the world champions.

Wallaby belief

This Australian side are a bit of a curate’s egg, but two things they don’t lack is belief in attacking s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 and pure gas, as England found out to their cost.

In the centres, the cross-code debutant Suaalii had a game of impressive proportions as his intelligent offloading and ability to stay up in the tackle caused England no end of headaches. His offload to set up Tom Wright’s try over the top of the England defence was right out of the Rugby League playbook, and there were a few others that lit up the Twickenham evening as the young centre showed huge promise in his handling and aerial game.

Alongside him, he found a partner of real solidity in Ikitau, a man on a fantastic upward trajectory as a Test player. Ikitau hit the defence, committed the numbers and, as a result, Suaalii enjoyed his debut in space he couldn’t have possibly anticipated.

Australia have had a rough year, but slowly and surely Schmidt has shored up a leaky set-piece and inspired some real dog into their defensive system and their magnificent back-row.

Rugby, with a Lions tour approaching, needs a strong, resilient and functioning Wallaby side and it’s heartening that Saturday at Twickenham just might be their biggest step forward in a long time.