Half-time: Australia 6-6 England
There isn’t much rugby to report in Perth, but there have been injuries in all stoppages, a couple of cards and five shots for a goal, four of which have been overs. Scores level at the break, but England will hope to benefit from their man advantage in the second half.
a punishment! Australia 6-6 England (Lolesio 40+3)
40 minutes: Pretty short one-two lineout from Poreki. The short side run provides momentum with the ball being transferred from left to right. The pace of the move forces England to scramble and in doing so Curry concedes a penalty and Lolesio Gimme cannot miss a goal from range.
40 minutes: Valetini’s brilliant run from behind a scrum prepared the Wallabies to attack with his own half. England conceded a penalty on the ruck and after the half-time siren sounded, Lolesio kicked 22 to the left for one final attack before the interval.
39 minutes: still 14v14 As of the moment England feeds half of Australia to a scrum. Those two lines of attack at Angle are rebuilt, but as Pharrell pops up a runaround for the care, England’s Scrumphaf is completely caught by Carey in a big way.
38 Minutes: The second feed simply goes away and both teams go to the boot on the far side until Kerevi tries to run into Etoje but he makes contact.
36 minutes:Australia with a scrum feed right out of their 22. Care tries to pinch it away but there is a reset instead.
35 Minutes: Shot on target that guaranteed three points, after Australia’s best route of the night, Cooper, Banks and possibly already lost, the penalty was reversed and the Wallabies ended up to 14 men. Alatoa…
Red Card / Yellow Card
Great drama here.
Red – Swain sees Red for the butt of his head.
Yellow – the hill is sent to the bin for ten minutes
34 Minutes: It looks like a normal handbag, until Swain lands a deft headbutt on Hill.
34 Minutes: Officials are reviewing some footage on the big screen. Maybe Hill is pulling Swain’s hair at a maul?
32 minutes: Australia won their scrum feed in their own half. White feeds Carey who kicks the back of England to dribble the ball out for 22. England secure a short lineout and Care cleans the kick. Koroibet and Kellaway show intent to drive the ball back. White follows suit, then the ball passes from the hands to the right. Better than Wallabies. Back at Kellaway’s line, he takes off the vine that explodes! He has no support and accepts contact. Australia keeps the ball alive, and earns the penalty advantage 10m out. England regroups in midfield and slows down the game, with Australia running into the water and eventually blowing the whistle for an earlier violation.
The best night route from Wallabies and Kellaway was twice as important.
Thirty minutes: There is an almighty scrap to the ball in the ruck on the far side near the halfway point. England retains possession and tries to run left to right but the ball hits the ground when Farrell is rowed by Kelaway.
28 minutes: England are forced to kick with a slower ball, something they don’t need to do tonight. They’re back halfway soon – but not for long with business on the ground. A series of kicks are then exchanged at the far touchline, none of them particularly purposeful. The kick-to-kick briefly shifts to the pass until Gain decides to keep his dead and his bum up.
Penalty miss!
35 meters out, just to the right of the posts, and Farrell widened it. It was disappointing.
25 Minutes: White Box kicks from his number 22, allowing Steward to show off his Superman skills in bursts. England keeps the ball alive for going out of hand. Care snips, he earns a penalty advantage on the ruck, England kicks to the left corner and the contest goes into the field, so we’ll be back for an earlier violation and another simple shot on goal.
Alan Alatoa is coming in for a HIA – he doesn’t look great.
Freddy Steward enjoys watching under the high ball.
a punishment! Australia 3-6 England (Lolesio, 24)
Lolesio calmly slipped Australia’s first point of the series over 30 meters to the right.
23 Minutes: After Banks moved on to the Medicab, England resumed with a stroke, but it ended with Australia taking their first chances on a penalty and points.
By the way, the Wallabies regroup by placing Calaway at fullback and Petia enters the wing.
22 minutes: 0-6 down, no Cooper, no bank, best start of the series for Dave Rennie.
Tom Banks injury
22 min: Devastating news for Tom Banks. The Australian fullback landed awkwardly chasing kick-off, and it seems clear on replays that he has broken his right arm. It was really ugly.
Young Patiya arrives.
a punishment! Australia 0-6 England (Farrell, 21)
England conceded 22 penalties and attacked from behind the lineout through care. Smith then drops a grubber into the corner. Under pressure, Australia secures the ball and then holds it in their jersey until the clearing kick begins. Novell drives the bomb back with rubber feet but the breakdown is not secured and serious stages begin in midfield. Stuart straightens up England and Farrell sets Curry through the line at first receiver. Through England – almost – as the ball flies to the right wing, but Carey stuns to catch Merchant. That was a try-saving highlight reel classic. England somehow recycles the ball and by the time the next play is halted, it is for England to have a breakdown penalty and Farrell scored three points off Gimme.
England’s positive start
Joe Merchant suffered a fine try-saving from Marika Korobit, but that’s exactly the kind of chance England should be scoring if their attack is really improving
— Gerard Meagher (@gerard_meagher) 2 July 2022
17 Minutes: This time the attack gets a chance, and again Kerevi is invited to hit the line first. However with Etoje’s huge frame it doesn’t take long in the turnover to secure the ball for England. In response, England looked to run again, this time from left to right, once again finding a lot of angles, taking advantage of the 10-12 variety of playmaker Jones’ selection. You can see those combinations by opening the carved sides if the combinations can be struck crisply.
15 minutes: The creative lineout from the Wallabies is halfway through, but Carey can’t get through to Curry – who could be hit on the head in his defensive action. Soon after, England conceded another breakdown offense and the Wallabies kicked it again into the right corner.
13 Minutes: The England forward crosses the advantage line for a few steps before the back is offered a few runs to the left, but Smith is given a hospital pass, which he does well to hang on. After nine steps Farrell goes to the sky on the right wing and Nouvel taps back to win, keeping the game alive on 22. Throw the ball from right to left, not always with control, but with wallabies energy to push down the defense and push England. Behind the goalline on the left before securing a breakdown for the penalty infield. Bell gets a lot of pats on the back.
Entrepreneur football from England. They want to take the game forward with the ball in hand.
11 minutes: great action. Etoje tries to interrupt the lineout call, roaring like a banshee. The referee, of course, has none of it, and very calmly tells England to pipe down. Australia won the throw but captured it with an accidental offside shortly thereafter. This is compounded when England win a scrum penalty on their first feed. The Wallabies went on to defend a lineout at the halfway point from positioning the field and promising possession.
10 Minutes: Australia turns to the right twice with White directing traffic. Breaking Law to play with his feet is pinged and Wallabies kicks to the right corner.
8 Minutes: Another breakdown penalty for England, this time after Swain landed on the wrong side of the ruck as England attempted to exit their 22m. The clearing kick is cut in half but Swain redeems himself by winning the lineout against the throw.
a punishment! Australia 0-3 England (Farrell, 7)
35 out, 18 from the left touchline, and Pharrell makes no mistake.
6 Minutes: Start again with a Lolesio bomb that the steward collects and comes into contact 10 meters from the halfway point. England goes to the left through Farrell’s hands before Etoje straightens. Gariowen is vigorously claimed by Lolesio but Curry does brilliantly to get hold of the ball, resist any clearout and earn a penalty. Owen Farrell has an opening shot for the goal.
4 minutes: When it finally packs the front rows collapse and the penalty goes to Australia.
Nothing happens like an endless reset scrum within the first four minutes at the start of the Test series between England and Australia
— Gerard Meagher (@gerard_meagher) 2 July 2022
3 minutes: No wonder the first scrum of the series would have to be reset twice.
2 minutes: Australia secured the deep kick-off. Two rucks are too slow and White kicks to touch the box halfway through. England secured their first lineout on the right, then the forward got to work in midfield. It is until Neville makes a stellar first impression at the international, catches Hill one-on-one and earns a penalty. Great start for the debutant.
to start!
First Test going on in Perth…