Not good enough Hooper injured as Wallabies drop eighth straight Test to England
Not accurate enough, not good enough, too many errors and too many âdumbâ penalties.
That was Wallabies coach Dave Rennieâs summation of his sideâs 32-15 defeat at Twickenham, Australiaâs eighth straight defeat against Eddie Jonesâ England.
Ill-discipline was the Wallabiesâ downfall in their loss to Scotland one week ago and while referee Jaco Peyper was incredibly pedantic, it was the same story in the penultimate Test of the season.
âWe were pretty frustrated with some of the penalties last week, but weâre not going to complain about Jacoâs refereeing. I thought he controlled the game pretty well,â Rennie said.
âMost of the issues were our undoing. We got ourselves in good position with the ball, and we were stripped three times. We have to be better.â
The loss was further soured by a foot injury to Hooper, who limped from the field with 25 minutes to play and will be in significant doubt to take his place in the clash with Wales in seven days.
The 18-9 penalty count in Englandâs favour was punctuated by two Wallabies yellow cards. Tom Wright was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Jamie George just before the half-time break and nine minutes after play resumed, Angus Bell was sent to the sin bin for a spear tackle on Courtney Lawes.
Playing against an England side which has had Australiaâs measure since the 2015 World Cup is hard enough. Trying to snap a seven match losing streak with only 14 men for 60 minutes of the match is another matter entirely.
âWe just made too many errors and dumb penalties,â Rennie said.
âThey put us under pressure. Frustrating, but there was a lot of character shown tonight. Not accurate enough, not good enough tonight.â
With 20 minutes to play, the Wallabies only trailed 19-15.
Jamie Blamire of England breaks away to score.Credit:Getty
A pair of Nic White try saving tackles stopped England from capitalising on prolonged periods of dominance, leaving the match there to be won.
It was the final quarter which will leave Rennie most disappointed. His side dropped an incredible amount of ball through loose exchanges as they chased the game and eventually gifted the home side with a try on the final siren which sealed the result.
While the Wallabies only trailed 16-12 at the half-time break, the scoreboard did not accurately reflect the run of play.
Relentless Peyper penalties allowed James OâConnor the opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking over but with ball in hand, England always looked the more likely of the two sides.
Michael Hooper leaves the field.Credit:Getty
The writing appeared to be on the wall after just six minutes, when Englandâs next great playmaking hope Marcus Smith put Freddie Steward through a huge hole.
The fullback easily beat Kurtley Beale in cover defence and brought the 82,000 fans at Twickenham to their feet.
To their credit, the Wallabies always responded to England points. Their first half maul defence was excellent, and their scrum held firm despite the absence of Allan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou.
But the match wasnât played on their terms. Hunter Paisamiâs defence was superb but Samu Kereviâs presence with ball in hand was dearly missed.
Englandâs Owen Farrell, right, tries to tackle Australiaâs Hunter Paisami.Credit:Getty
Kerevi appears to be the key to unlocking the Wallabiesâ attack, as it did not look like producing a try just one week after a spluttering performance against Scotland.
OâConnorâs kicking game was accurate, but he is yet to prove he should be the first choice five-eighth in place of Quade Cooper.
âItâs frustrating that weâre not able to play the game we want to play. Certainly not able to unlock the England defence. We felt starved of ball. They did well there tonight to keep us at our end of the field,â Hooper said.
âWeâre not accurate, weâre not building momentum.â
One of the few bright sparks was White.
When Wright was shown a yellow card, England threatened to put the match away much earlier than even they would have anticipated. Enter White.
Leading 16-9 with just over five minutes to play, George peeled away from an England maul five metres from the Wallabiesâ line and seemed certain to score.
The star halfback snuck up behind the England No. 2 and batted the ball out of his grasp as he rushed to slam it down, earning the Wallabies the most significant of lifelines.
Whiteâs inspirational moment was matched by Slipper a couple of minutes before the break, when he forced a scrum penalty on Englandâs feed just inside the Wallabiesâ half.
OâConnor nailed his fourth penalty goal from as many attempts just before the half-time siren, leaving the score precariously poised at 16-12.
But like many of the seven straight wins England accumulated against the Wallabies since the embarrassing defeat at their home World Cup in 2015, they ran away with the match in the second half.
For Wallabies fans, it was like watching a sad, familiar movie all over again.
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