England win first two clashes in Autumn Internationals

England defeated Argentina, Australia in the Old Mutual Wealth Series

After beating Argentina 21-8 in their opening match of the Autumn Internationals, England next faced Australia at Twickenham Stadium in London. The Red Rose end their Old Mutual Wealth Series against Samoa. After defeating Australia 30-6 on Saturday, England have now won 21 of their 22 matches under coach Eddie Jones’ leadership. Great seats and tickets are still available for sale to watch England battle Samoa in live action at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday, November 25 from the LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk rugby union tickets marketplace.

Buy England v Samoa tickets, Twickenham Stadium, London, Sat 25th November 2017
Read on for match reports for both of England’s two Autumn Internationals fixtures.

Match Report
England 30-6 Australia
England (6) 30, Tries: Daly, Joseph, May, Care Cons: Farrell 2 Pens: Farrell 2
Australia (0) 6
Pens: Hodge, Foley

England made it five wins in a row over Australia as three late tries saw them battle to a victory in an exciting game featuring several questionable decisions. England head coach Eddie Jones named his Red Rose matchday squad to play Australia in the second Test of the Old Mutual Wealth Series. There is no rugby match more popular than the battle between England and Australia. Fans purchased last minute England v Australia tickets securely online from LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk!

England coach Eddie Jones made four changes to his side that defeated Argentina 21-8 on Saturday. Owen Farrell (Saracens) made a return to the squad for the first time this season in place of Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs) at inside center. Jonny May (Leicester Tigers) was fit and competed on the right wing. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) moved to fullback after Mike Brown (Harlequins) was out due to his head injury last weekend. One change in the forward pack saw Joe Launchbury (Wasps) replace George Kruis (Saracens). The Wasps lock partnered Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints) who won his 60th cap for England. Maro Itoje (Saracens) was named as one of the finishers. Argentina went down 21-8 after missing five of their six kicks at goal. The Argentina Pumas might have won if they had a good goal-kicker. “I have selected the strongest 23 to play Australia and we will have to be effective in everything we do this weekend to win," said Jones. "This is going to be a great challenge, as we know Australia have been in great form towards the end of their season. The players have had an extremely positive week. They have trained well and worked hard and we are all excited about going out on Saturday and playing well against a very good Australian side.”

England Squad to play Australia
Starting 15
15 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 27 caps), 14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 27 caps), 13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 34 caps), 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 52 caps), 11 Elliot Daly (Wasps 14 caps), 10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 38 caps), 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers 71 caps), 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 43 caps), 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 87 caps) captain, 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 75 caps), 4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 45 caps), 5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 59 caps), 6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 57 caps), 7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 2 caps), 8 Nathan Hughes (Wasps 11 caps).

Finishers
16 Jamie George (Saracens 18 caps), 17 Joe Marler (Harlequins 51 caps), 18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs 3 caps), 19 Maro Itoje (Saracens 12 caps), 20 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 1 cap), 21 Danny Care (Harlequins 74 caps), 22 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs 8 caps), 23 Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby 3 caps).

Before the match, England rugby union captain and Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley said it is vital that his team set a winning tone this weekend against the giant Wallabies side. “It’s important alright,” said Hartley. “I want England to win the Ashes, I want us to beat Australia.” England coach Eddie Jones planed England’s quickest pace attack in history against Australia. Jones selected a XV with three extremely fast players in wings Jonny May and Elliot Daly and new full-back Anthony Watson. Jones compared Watson to a high-performance car and said May has an even faster set of wheels. Daly’s speed set up the British and Irish Lions’ greatest ever try in New Zealand last summer. “Maybe we are the fastest-ever England back-three,” said May, who boasts a 10.71secs 100m time.

England boss Jones agreed. “Jonny will be the fastest winger on the field and any ¬opportunities he gets, he’ll turn into points for us,” said Jones. “There’s nothing better than an Australia-England contest. We’re playing against the best in the world at the moment.And of that team we played, probably six or seven are still there,” observed Jones. “That’s an advantage for us, as they’ll have a bit of an itch in the back of their head. When the game gets tighter, their memory will go back to the previous games — and to that itch.” England welcomed back leader Farrell after he was rested for the match against Argentina. Anthony Watson will start at fullback for England against Australia after Mike Brown, Eddie Jones’s choice in 20 of his 21 Tests in charge, lost his fitness fight. Brown landed on his head during last weekend’s win over Argentina and has not recovered in time. Watson’s switch means fit-again Jonny May returned on the right wing, with Elliot Daly keeping the left wing slot. Owen Farrell returned at inside-center to join Jonathan Joseph. The only change in the forward pack saw Joe Launchbury replace George Kruis. Maro Itoje made his first appearance of the season in England’s squad, starting the match on the bench.

"Mike is doing really well. There are set protocols on return to play and he's progressing pretty well. I'd think that at this stage he's still in contention," Jones said about Mike Jones. "The medical staff are very in tune with the players' welfare. That's at an absolute premium and that's the first thing we take into consideration." Full-back Mike Brown underwent the return to play protocols for concussion after landing heavily on his head and shoulders. Brown departed in the 22nd minute after being tackled by opposite number Joaquin Tuculet while attempting to catch a high ball, resulting in a yellow card for the Pumas full-back. Two years ago Brown was forced to spend an extended spell on the sidelines after being knocked out against Italy. Anthony Watson is viewed as Brown's successor at full-back and he moved from wing to deputize when the injury struck, acquitting himself well in the position he fills for Bath. "Anthony went very well. He hadn't trained there, so it was a really good exercise," said Jones, who revealed that Jonny May has resumed full training after recovering from a hamstring injury. I have selected the strongest 23 to play Australia and we will have to be effective in everything we do this weekend to win. This is going to be a great challenge, as we know Australia have been in great form towards the end of their season. The players have had an extremely positive week. They have trained well and worked hard and we are all excited about going out on Saturday and playing well against a very good Australian side.”

England rugby star Owen Farrell was unhappy at Eddie Jones' decision to rest both he and Maro Itoje for Saturday's Autumn Internationals opening clash with Argentina at Twickenham. Farrell wanted on the pitch so badly he from entered the field of play as a water boy. During a break, water boy Farrell himself, happy to pass on a few messages from the coaching staff as the superstar of world rugby donned a bib and carried on refreshments like All Blacks captain Kieran Read did when New Zealand played the Barbarians at Twickenham last weekend. "I like it when my water boy brings good chat and he certainly brought that," said Beauden Barrett.

Eddie Jones apologized for swearing during England’s win over Argentina. After the win, Eddie Jones said he was sorry for his expletive-laden outburst during England's victory over Argentina and has accepted responsibility for the poor performance. During the second half at Twickenham on Saturday a television camera in front of the coach's box showed Jones slam down his notebook and mouth “how ** stupid are we?" England’s feisty win over the Pumas was their 20th victory in 21 Tests under Jones but it was among the worst displays of Jones’ tenure and the Australian said he was at fault. “I'd like to apologize for swearing in public. It's not acceptable so I apologize for that and I'll find a different way to express my frustration in the future,” said Jones. “I thought our effort and application were first class. Argentina are a difficult team, but I obviously didn't coach the team well enough. It's my fault the team didn't play well so I take full responsibility for that. I just didn't coach them well enough.”

The pressure was on the England squad to be ready to enjoy and win their clash with Australia. "Pressure will be ramped up this week, we as players need to put pressure on ourselves," said Mako. In a departure from his previous approach to the build-up to Tests against Australia, Jones opted against mind games and instead praised Michael Cheika's Australia side as Eddie Jones called up 35 players ahead of Saturday's Test against Australia. "Australia were beaten by 50 points in the first Bledisloe Cup game and the second one they won. They've really turned it around through some very good coaching," Jones said. Their selection has been good, their defense is very good, their set-piece is strong. They're playing some good rugby and are probably the form team in the world at the moment."

The Wallabies lost their captain Michael Hooper and full-back Kurtley Beale to first-half yellow cards and had two tries of their own disallowed as a series of marginal calls went against them. A week ago Eddie Jones was seen cursing in the stands, but this time it was Australia coach Michael Cheika fuming as his side lost in a dramatic final quarter. Elliot Daly's try early in the second half built on an early lead established from Owen Farrell's boot. Australia winger Marika Koroibete thought he had made it 13-11, but referee Ben O'Keeffe ruled it out for an offside against replacement hooker Stephen Moore, and England took full advantage. Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May, and Danny Care all crossed late on as the home side's 'finishers' overwhelmed the Aussies. Danny Care's score came next in the hard-fought encounter. After England’s win over Argentina a week ago, England began with much more pace and ambition although the weather was freezing. Supporters were delighted with Farrell's early penalty and Foley's horrible miskick from the tee. The cold weather cost both sides attacking opportunities. Maro Itoje came on after replacing the injured Sam Underhill, stealing an attacking Wallabies line-out deep in the England 22. Farrell went for the corner. Multiple infringements from the subsequent driving maul saw Hooper sin-binned and Farrell made it 6-0. Beale was penalized for a deliberate knock-on as May looked to put Joseph away and Australia ended the half down to 13 men. England did not initially capitalize. By the time Beale was back on, Reece Hodge had landed a penalty from 47 meters to make it 6-3.

In the 57th minute, Samu Kerevi gathered the ball under immense pressure from May, found Tevita Kuridrani only for his center partner to drop the ball on the offload. George Ford then gathered the loose ball, Ben Youngs kicked clear, and Daly just beat Beale to the loose ball and kicked ahead into the unguarded 22 before falling on the ball over the line. Farrell's conversion made it 13-3 after the TMO finally decided the ball had not touched the sideline before Daly's intervention, Foley cut the deficit 17 minutes left on the clock. Australia were dominating possession, and when Koroibete smashed through and touched the ball down. But the match official ruled that replacement hooker Moore had obstructed the England blind-side as he made his tackle. Care's kick over the top was gathered by Joseph to slide over for his 17th international try. Cheika had a laugh at the number of tight decisions that had gone against his side. Care dove into the corner for the coup de grace. Australia thought they had scored through Marika Koroibete, but official Ben O'Keeffe explained to disgruntled Australia captain Michael Hooper, there was an obstruction just before Koroibete went over. "Sometimes the calls go your way. It was a tough old game, we got a few lucky bounces, Australia probably didn't,” said England coach Eddie Jones. "We just stuck at it today. Our finishers did very well and they [Australia] fell apart at the end."

"It took me back to being a player. I would have been really quite hacked off the way people have been doubting England this week and questioning the style of play in the win against Argentina,” said former England scrum-half Matt Dawson. "The world-class players are not always going to play great every week but they win ugly and they bounce back and they beat the best sides. They hammered Australia today. There will be a little bit of the players looking around, to the media, to the questioners, to say 'is that good enough for you? Did you expect 30-6? Anyone got any questions about that?' And I hope they do, because they've got to have that edge. There were no crazy celebrations, it was 'yes, job done'."

Squads

Starting 15
England: 15 Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby 27 caps), 14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers 27 caps), 13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby 34 caps), 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens 52 caps), 11 Elliot Daly (Wasps 14 caps), 10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers 38 caps), 9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers 71 caps), 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens 43 caps), 2 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints 87 caps) captain, 3 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers 75 caps), 4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps 45 caps), 5 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints 59 caps), 6 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins 57 caps), 7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby 2 caps), 8 Nathan Hughes (Wasps 11 caps).

Finishers
16 Jamie George (Saracens 18 caps), 17 Joe Marler (Harlequins 51 caps), 18 Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs 3 caps), 19 Maro Itoje (Saracens 12 caps), 20 Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs 1 cap), 21 Danny Care (Harlequins 74 caps), 22 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs 8 caps), 23 Semesa Rokoduguni (Bath Rugby 3 caps).
Australia: 15-Kurtley Beale; 14-Marika Koroibete, 13-Tevita Kuridrani, 12-Samu Kerevi, 11-Reece Hodge; 10-Bernard Foley, 9-Will Genia; 1-Scott Sio, 2-Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3-Sekope Kepu, 4-Rob Simmons, 5-Blake Enever, 6-Ned Hanigan, 7-Michael Hooper, 8-Sean McMahon.

Match Report

England 21-8 Argentina
England - Tries: Hughes, Rokoduguni Cons: Ford Pens: Ford 3
Argentina - Tries: Sanchez Pens: Boffelli 1

Nathan Hughes' first Test try and Semesa Rokoduguni's second-half score earned England a 21-8 Autumn Internationals win over Argentina in a tough match at Twickenham Stadium. Argentina, who have now lost 18 times in 23 Tests since reaching the 2015 World Cup semi-finals, scored a late try through Nicolas Sanchez. England earned their fourth win over Argentina this year after opening their Old Mutual Wealth Series with a scrappy 21-8 win at Twickenham Stadium with 81,683 fans in attendance. It was the 22nd victory in 23 matches, 21 of which have come under Eddie Jones’ leadership. The victory was also England’s 18th win over Argentina in 23 meetings. England led 14-3 at the breakthrough Nathan Hughes’ try and three George Ford penalties with Argentina’s solitary points coming from Emiliano Boffelli’s boot. Semesa Rokoduguni, a first-half replacement for Mike Brown, scored England's second try with 15 minutes remaining as Ford's conversion made the score to 21-3. Nicolas Sanchez scored a late try, but missed the conversion to end the match. Jones’ side brought back seven British & Irish Lions rugby players on the squad for the match against Argentina. Hughes, who was on the summer tour in South America, impressed in the first half. With the score 6-3, Argentina went to 14-men for 10 minutes after Joaquin Tuculet was yellow carded for taking out Brown in the air. A few minutes later England had the first try of the game via Hughes. England was able to stretch the Argentina defense. Seeing space on the right wing, Ford threw an amazing miss-pass that saw Hughes barge over in the corner for his first England try. Argentina missed two penalties via Juan Martin Hernandez in the first half. Hughes’ three tackles and seven gainline breaks were impressive.

In the second half Ford kicked a penalty to the corner rather than taking the points and as a result, England went to a meter short of Argentina’s try line. Argentina were penalized again but lost their chance. Argentina’s weakness with the boot continued as Boffelli sent a penalty across the face of the posts. England brought on Joe Launchbury and Jamie George and Alex Lozowski and Danny Care soon followed. Sanchez missed another penalty for Argentina, their fourth of the match. From the resulting restart, Lozowski went upfield and took England to Argentina's 22m. Then Bath wing Rokoduguni flew over in the corner after a superb looping pass from Henry Slade put him in for a third try in three international appearances. Argentina ended the game strongly as Sanchez went over to Argentina. "We've got a few things to work on," said England captain Dylan Hartley enjoying his team’s victory. "But it is a first victory in a three-match series. We'll celebrate the win, enjoy it but we now focus on Australia. We wanted to keep a clean sheet so to concede that try at the end is disappointing."

Squads
England: 15-Mike Brown, 14-Anthony Watson, 13-Jonathan Joseph, 12-Henry Slade, 11-Elliot Daly, 10-George Ford, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Mako Vunipola, 2-Dylan Hartley (captain), 3-Dan Cole, 4-Courtney Lawes, 5-George Kruis, 6-Chris Robshaw, 7-Sam Underhill, 8-Nathan Hughes.

Finishers: 16-Jamie George, 17-Ellis Genge, 18-Harry Williams, 19-Joe Launchbury, 20-Sam Simmonds, 21-Danny Care, 22-Alex Lozowski, 23-Semesa Rokoduguni.

Argentina: 15-Joaquin Tuculet, 14-Ramiro Moyano, 13-Matias Moroni, 12-Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 11-Emiliano Boffelli, 10-Juan Martin Hernandez, 9-Martin Landajo; 1-Santiago Garcia Botta, 2-Agustin Creevy (captain), 3-Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 4-Matias Alemanno, 5-Tomas Lavanini, 6-Pablo Matera, 7-Marcos Kremer, 8-Tomas Lezana.

Replacements: 16-Julian Montoya, 17-Lucas Noguera, 18-Enrique Pieretto, 19-Benjamin Macome, 20-Leonardo Senatore, 21-Gonzalo Bertranou, 22-Nicolas Sanchez, 23-Sebastian Cancelliere.

Match Stats

England: (14) 21
Try: Hughes (23'), Rokoduguni (66')
Conversion: Ford (68')
Penalty: Ford (7', 14', 34')
Argentina: (3) 8
Try: Sanchez (78')
Penalty: Boffelli (10')
Man of the Match: Mako Vunipola (England)

Autumn Internationals England results, schedule, tickets England 21-8 Argentina, Twickenham Stadium, London, Sat 11th November 2017
England 30-6 Australia, Twickenham Stadium, London, Sat 18th November 2017
England v Samoa, Twickenham Stadium, London, Sat 25th November 2017

Click here to buy England Autumn International rugby tickets from LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk!