England competed with Australia all the way to the final whistle in the Cook Cup match at Twickenham and although they had a few chances, never looked to have the pace or whit to breach the Wallabies line.
The first half saw a Jonny Wilkinson drop goal open the scoring, he followed this with a penalty before scrumhalf Will Genia closed the gap with a cheeky try. The half was closed out by a further Wilkinson penalty to take us in to half time at 9-5.
The second half and the Wallabies then took control and two Giteau penalties and a converted Adam Ashley-Cooper try ensured they started their Grand Slam tour with a victory. England can take heart for the six nations but will have to improve to beat Argentina and New Zealand later this month.
Final score:
England 9-18 Australia
scorers
England
Pens: Wilkinson 2 Drop-goal: Wilkinson
Australia
Tries: Genia, Ashley-Cooper Con: Giteau Pens: Giteau 2
Teams
England:
Monye; Cueto, Hipkiss, Geraghty, Banahan; Wilkinson, Care; Payne, Thompson, Wilson, Deacon, Borthwick, Croft, Moody, Crane.
Replacements: Haskell (for Crane, 53), Hartley (for Thompson, 57), Bell (for Wilson, 58), Hodgson (for Care, 63), Erinle (for Hipkiss, 67), Lawes (for Deacon, 68).
Australia:
Ashley-Cooper; Hynes, Ioane, Cooper, Mitchell; Giteau, Genia, Robinson, Moore, Alexander, Horwill, Chisholm, Elsom, G Smith, Palu.
Replacements: Polota Nau (for Moore, 61), Cross (for Ioane, 66), Pocock (for Palu, 68), Dunning (for Alexander, 76).
Not Used: Mumm, Burgess, O’Connor.
Att: 80,020
Ref: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand).