- England 32-15 Australia
- Tries in each half give England victory in promising display
A golden glow lit up this dark night in south-west London, and not all of it was down to the visitors’ distinctive jerseys. England have had bigger victories over Australia but a display of twinkling promise from their new fly-half Marcus Smith and an eighth successive red rose win in this fixture since 2016 sent the majority of the crowd away optimistic about the home side’s medium-term future.
Eddie Jones always enjoys getting one over on his former employers and, given the Covid-19 disruption on the eve of the game, this result will give him as much pleasure as any. After Ireland’s fine effort against New Zealand it would have been instructive to see the All Blacks on English turf this week, but the world champion Springboks will still be a useful barometer of the true autumnal worth of Jones’s reshaped side.
