From the depths of despair, hope has sprung in an Australian spring after the Wallabies produced one of their finest victories in a decade to bury England at the home of rugby at Twickenham.

After Maro Itoje scored and Marcus Smith kicked England to a two-point lead with less than 60 seconds remaining, it looked like another Wallabies road𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁.

Jamie George – the England captain – smiled and chuckled under his breath as the home fans jumped and danced with glee.

Needing only to win the kick restart and run down the clock Itoje spilled the ball and the Wallabies were presented with one last chance as the clock ticked into the red.

After a couple of scrum resets and a slow road ahead, the Wallabies produced something even David Campese would be proud of as quick hands and an offload from the Gods by Len Ikitau freed up 20-year-old Max Jorgensen who saw space, pinned the ears back and produced the best swan dive in Australian rugby since Matt Giteau broke English hearts at the 2015 World Cup to finish spectacularly and seal a famous victory.

Ben Donaldson’s sideline conversion gave the Wallabies a 42-37 victory to keep their Grand Slam hopes alive and pump back much-needed life into a fallen rugby powerhouse’s lungs just nine months out from hosting the British and Irish Lions.

Wallabies back Max Jorgensen celebrates after scoring the match-winning try against England at Twickenham on November 09, 2024 in London. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

As well as snapping a nine-year barren run at Twickenham, it was just the Wallabies’ second win over England in their past 12 Tests.

Making the victory all the more remarkable was it came after England scored two early tries to help the home side run out to a 15-3 lead midway through the first half.

“I’m blown away by the way we got out of jail in the end,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said.

The victory came after the Wallabies had been written off by most.

Indeed, two months ago former England halfback Ben Youngs described the Wallabies’ capitulation against Argentina as “proper dark” and only a week ago said “Australia, don’t waste my time”. Oops.

Wallabies tight-head prop Allan Alaalatoa, who finished the game as skipper after Harry Wilson was forced off after a knock, said they always believed they could do something special.

“That was awesome,” he said. “It was just a really good feeling to be out there, especially in the second half – there was a lot of belief after we started slow.

“That belief came off the back of a really good week. We know how hard it is to verse England at a sold out Twickenham. They were outstanding tonight. We knew it was going to go down to the wire. The message was to trust our fundamentals, things that we had been speaking about all season and that’s what gave us the win.

“It was a massive step forward.”

It’s fair to say the Wallabies critics, including Campese, who earlier this week took another shot at his former side, will be eating their words now.

Australia’s Len Ikitau (left) and Ben Donaldson celebrate Max Jorgensen’s match-winning try against England on November 09, 2024 in London. (Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)

George, who was sitting on the bench in the final stages, laid down the law to his side after yet another late defeat.

“I think the blueprint of how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes of the game,” the British and Irish Lions hooker said.

“We put Australia under a lot of pressure and sometimes in a Test match like that you think the job’s done. We took our foot off the gas. You’ve got to give credit to Australia, they were very good tonight. We can’t keep doing that, it’s going to be a tough one to watch back.”

Brumbies duo Ikitau and Tom Wright were magnificent.

Wright not only scored the Wallabies’ opening try but was at the heart of their resurgence as he regularly broke the line.

Ikitau, meanwhile, teamed up superbly with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, who was brilliant on debut.

The Wallabies’ new $1.6 million man regularly helped win his side possession from kick restarts while his ability to free his arms was evident, including his final pass to free up Wright to make a clean run to the tryline in the first half.

The backs weren’t alone, with Angus Bell magnificent, second-row pair Jeremy Williams and Nick Frost industrious while the back-row trio of Rob Valetini, Fraser McReight and Wilson managed to get the better of their opponents after Chandler Cunningham-South’s electric start.

In an open Test, England raced out of the blocks early as Marcus Smith had the ball on the string.

The flyhalf’s successful chip put England on the front-foot and moments later Cunningham-South scored out wide inside the opening five minutes.

While the Wallabies carved back a few points after Noah Lolesio’s penalty, the back-rower’s second try in tight after England played on quickly from a penalty gave the home side a 12-3 lead.

Another three points to Smith threatened to break the Wallabies early, before the visitors started to get a foothold in the contest.

Wright’s try in the 26th minute stopped the bleeding, before Jake Gordon raced up the tunnel after blood streamed down his face. Enter Tate McDermott.

The electric replacement halfback put England on the backfoot and then sent Harry Wilson into score.

A penalty on the stroke of half-time gave the Wallabies the half-time lead, before Williams scored out wide in the 47th minute to shock the home side.

After another penalty to Lolesio, England finally responded as Sleightholme touched down.

Max Jorgensen dives over for the Wallabies to seal a famous win over England in London. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

The replacement winger’s second soon after and Smith’s conversion from out wide nudged England ahead with 12 minutes remaining.

England tried to run the clock down for the second straight week but their plans blew up in their face when Andrew Kellaway picked up the scraps off the deck and streaked away down field to score.

Still with time to respond it looked like England had sewn up the Test when Itoje scored, but another twist was around the corner.

It’s one that should breathe life back into the game Down Under and encourage British and Irish fans ahead of next year’s Lions series.