The Wallabies’ northern tour has started with a heavy defeat, with England scoring seven tries in a 45–22 win at Twickenham that Les Kiss’s side will want to forget quickly.

How it unfolded

England led from the eighth minute, when hooker Jamie George scored from a driving maul. Ryan Lonergan kicked a penalty for Australia, but Ollie Chessum and prop Joe Heyes added tries before half-time. Loosehead prop Angus Bell was sin-binned in the 33rd minute for a hip-drop tackle on winger Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Against the run of play, Max Jorgensen intercepted and ran 50 metres to score just before the break, making it 19–10 at half-time. Any hope of a comeback faded soon after the restart. Halfback Jack van Poortvliet scored two minutes into the second half, and flanker Henry Pollock, brought on as a replacement wing after Feyi-Waboso limped off, scored twice to make it 38–10 at the hour mark.

Late tries to Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams, the latter after England captain Maro Itoje dropped a lineout ball, reduced the margin before Ben Spencer intercepted a Daugunu offload to score in the 76th minute.

The numbers

  • England’s 45 points are the most it has ever scored against the Wallabies, and the win retained the Ella-Mobbs Trophy.
  • England has now beaten Australia in 12 of their last 14 meetings.
  • It was the Wallabies’ third consecutive defeat, following two losses to the All Blacks, and leaves them mathematically out of contention for the Nations Championship final on 29 November.
  • Flanker Fraser McReight played his 50th Test.

What they said

“We probably hurt ourselves a little bit,” Kiss said. “They were pretty clinical with what they did. We failed to get into the A zone.” He added: “I thought the first half we went into some pretty bad habits, went a bit narrow ... second half we certainly put some things together.”

Harry Wilson said: “England put us under the pump. We weren’t physical enough, we didn’t slow their ball down, we were just playing from behind.” Of the late tries, he said: “It’s too little too late.”

“I’m over the moon,” Itoje said. “We’re in a good place, we need to build.”

What’s next

The Wallabies face Scotland at Murrayfield next weekend, followed by Wales. “We’ve got seven days to just take some feedback from this game and make sure we’re a lot better,” Wilson said. With a home Rugby World Cup less than a year away, there is plenty for Kiss and his players to work on.

Sources: ABC News (9 November 2026); BBC Sport (8 November 2026); rugby.com.au (8 November 2026).