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Proving a point England edges out world champion Wallabies, 32-31Posted: Saturday November 16, 2002 11:53 AMUpdated: Saturday November 16, 2002 1:31 PM
TWICKENHAM, England (AP) -- Ben Cohen scored a match winning try as England scored a dramatic 32-31 victory over world champion Australia on Saturday as Twickenham staged its second international thriller in eight days. A week after Clive Woodward's team survived a powerful New Zealand fightback in a 31-28 victory, it came from 31-19 down having once been in control with a 10 point lead. Wilkinson made all eight of his kicks including the conversion of Cohen's second try with seven minutes to go as England beat Australia for the third time in a row at Twickenham and made it 17 games unbeaten at the home of English rugby. Beaten 18-9 by Ireland last week, the Wallabies trailed England 16-6 before staging an amazing fightback before 73,000 fans at Twickenham. Two tries by Elton Flatley and another by Wendell Sailor spun the match 28-16 in Australia's favor. Wilkinson kicked three penalties to start the England fightback and then Cohen crossed for the try which the fly half converted for the winning two points. "We didn't panic when we could have done," Woodward said. "And hats off to Johnno (Wilkinson), it was a great comeback. "When they went 31-19 up we got a message on saying `calm down, there's plenty of time left' and for the team to come back like that is huge, a massive boost," Woodward said. "Ten minutes of madness at the start of the second half put us in a pretty poor situation and I'm just so relieved we've won. If we had lost it would have taken a lot of getting over because in the first half we were cruising. "But the character came through and the atmosphere was brilliant. Credit to Australia too, it was a fantastic test match and a magnificent spectacle." The Wallabies had a great chance to take an early lead from a turnover 20 meters from the English line but only wound up with a penalty which Burke pulled wide. From a lineout on the right, England moved the ball quickly across the entire width of the field and winger James Simpson-Daniel used his pace to open up a gap before passing inside for Cohen to go over. Wilkinson's conversion made it 7-0 with 11 minutes gone. Burke cut that to one point by kicking two almost identical 35-meter penalties but Wilkinson, who has scored more than 400 points at Twickenham, launched a 51-meter kick to make it 10-6 with a quarter of the game gone. Dan Vickerman was penalized for illegally taking out Richard Hill after the Matt Dawson had charged 40 meters with the ball only to stopped by Wendell Sailor 30 meters from the Australian posts. Wilkinson kicked the penalty and England led 13-6. With half time approaching and England piecing together some impressive moves, the Wallabies conceded another penalty at a ruck just inside their own half and Wilkinson kicked from 46 meters to send his team into half time leading by 10 points. The half was deep into injury time when the Australians replied with a try after three times opting not to kick a penalty inside the England 22. The Wallabies initially went for a lineout and, when England was penalized for bringing a player down illegally, they went for the scrum. Dawson was again penalized for handling before the ball had left the scrum and the half was into the seventh minute of injury time when it finally was fed to Flatley charging towards the post. Wilkinson went for the tackle but lost his footing and the center was virtually unchallenged as he crossed between the posts. Burke kicked the conversion and England's half time lead was cut to 16-13. Lawrence Dallaglio, surprisingly dropped after the victory over New Zealand last week, entered the game as a replacement for the bloodied Richard Hill two minutes into the second half. He was on the field for barely seven minutes but saw Australia's second and third tries. England's defense was pulled apart again when Steve Larkham darted through a gap in the line and found Sailor with a looping pass and the former rugby league star cut inside to cross in the corner for his first international try as a union player. Burke missed the conversion but the Wallabies led for the first time 18-16. Two minutes later they moved further ahead when the English were turned over inside the Australian 22 and Flatley outpaced Dallaglio and then the speedy Jason Robinson in an 80-meter run for the try. Burke's conversion, followed a minute later by a 44-meter penalty, made it 28-16 in an amazing turnaround in just 10 minutes of play. Wilkinson kicked a 40-meter penalty to halt the points streak at 22 but Burke landed one for an English offside and the Australians led 31-19 going into the final quarter of the game. Wilkinson kicked two more penalties to cut the lead to six points before England regained the lead. Winger Cohen took a ball inside and his speed took him past both George Gregan and Larkham before he darted beneath the posts. Wilkinson's conversion regained the lead at 32-31 with 10 minutes to go. Burke had a chance to turn the game Australia's way once more only to pull a 40-meter penalty wide. Lineups:England -- Jason Robinson, James Simpson-Daniel, Will Greenwood, Mike Tindall, Ben Cohen, Jonny Wilkinson, Matt Dawson, Phil Vickery, Steve Thompson, Jason Leonard, Ben Kay, Martin Johnson (captain), Richard Hill, Neil Back, Lewis Moody. Australia -- Matt Burke, Wendell Sailor, Daniel Herbert, Elton Flatley, Stirling Mortlock, Stephen Larkham, George Gregan (captain), Patricio Noriega, Jeremy Paul, Bill Young, Justin Harrison, Dan Vickerman, Toutai Kefu, George Smith, Matt Cockbain, Referee -- Paul Honiss, New Zealand. |
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