The visitors raced into a 26-0 lead at half-time thanks to a brace from full-back Billy Slater as well as tries from Darren Lockyer, Greg Ingliss and Brett Morris. But they were made to work for their win as England scored 16 unanswered points in the second forty.
The Kangaroos started the game on the front foot and it took them just six minutes to turn their superiority into points.
Australia attacked England’s left flank before switching play as Lockyer set Inglis into space. The centre raced away before returning the favour to his skipper, who collected the return ball to score.
England fell further behind on fifteen minutes as Slater scored his first try. The Kangaroos ruthlessly exploited a Jamie Peacock mistake as they again switched play from right to left before Slater outpaced the England defence.
And England’s day went from bad to worse as Slater completed his brace straight from the kick off. Man of the match Inglis raced clear again down the left before committing Shaun Briscoe and slipping the pass to Slater who scored.
Inglis got his name on the scoresheet in the 22nd minute as he took advantage of Danny McGuire’s misplaced pass to race almost the length of the pitch and touch down.
The visitors targeted the right side of England’s defence for much of the first half and it was a ploy that paid dividends again in the 32nd minute as Morris went over in the left corner.
That score put Australia 26-0 up at the break and it was difficult to see how England could get back into the game.
However, the home side came out for the second half with a much more positive attitude and had hit back within four minutes of the restart.
A clever reverse ball from Kevin Sinfield put Sam Burgess through and the young second row powered over to score.
England were now well on top and were unlucky not to eat further into Australia’s lead as Burgess couldn’t quite get on the end of a McGuire chip through.
They did get a second score in the 68th minute as stand-off Sam Tomkins stepped past two defenders before offloading to Gareth Ellis who went over.
The Kangaroos were further rocked with seven minutes left as Jonathan Thurston saw yellow for holding on.
And England’s man advantage paid immediate dividends as Lee Smith raced over on the right to set up a frantic final five minutes.
However, it was too little too late as Australia held on to win. England, though, can take plenty of positives from their second half performance into the clash with New Zealand.
The Kangaroos started the game on the front foot and it took them just six minutes to turn their superiority into points.
Australia attacked England’s left flank before switching play as Lockyer set Inglis into space. The centre raced away before returning the favour to his skipper, who collected the return ball to score.
England fell further behind on fifteen minutes as Slater scored his first try. The Kangaroos ruthlessly exploited a Jamie Peacock mistake as they again switched play from right to left before Slater outpaced the England defence.
And England’s day went from bad to worse as Slater completed his brace straight from the kick off. Man of the match Inglis raced clear again down the left before committing Shaun Briscoe and slipping the pass to Slater who scored.
Inglis got his name on the scoresheet in the 22nd minute as he took advantage of Danny McGuire’s misplaced pass to race almost the length of the pitch and touch down.
The visitors targeted the right side of England’s defence for much of the first half and it was a ploy that paid dividends again in the 32nd minute as Morris went over in the left corner.
That score put Australia 26-0 up at the break and it was difficult to see how England could get back into the game.
However, the home side came out for the second half with a much more positive attitude and had hit back within four minutes of the restart.
A clever reverse ball from Kevin Sinfield put Sam Burgess through and the young second row powered over to score.
England were now well on top and were unlucky not to eat further into Australia’s lead as Burgess couldn’t quite get on the end of a McGuire chip through.
They did get a second score in the 68th minute as stand-off Sam Tomkins stepped past two defenders before offloading to Gareth Ellis who went over.
The Kangaroos were further rocked with seven minutes left as Jonathan Thurston saw yellow for holding on.
And England’s man advantage paid immediate dividends as Lee Smith raced over on the right to set up a frantic final five minutes.
However, it was too little too late as Australia held on to win. England, though, can take plenty of positives from their second half performance into the clash with New Zealand.
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