England beat Australia 37-21 to complete perfect year
Last Updated: 03/12/16 11:20pm
England shook off an indifferent first half to beat Australia 37-21 at Twickenham on Saturday and end their year unbeaten with a 14th successive win.
The victories - 13 of which have come under Eddie Jones - equalled England's winning streak recorded by the 2003 World Cup winning team under Sir Clive Woodward.
However, it was a shaky start from England as Australia looked to revenge their whitewash 3-0 series defeat in the summer.
The Wallabies surged into a 10-0 lead after a Bernard Foley penalty was followed by a converted try for wing Sefa Naivalu.
England clawed their way back into the game and somehow found themselves 13-10 up after two Owen Farrell penalties and Jonathan Joseph's converted breakaway try off the back of a Wallaby mistake.
But two more Foley penalties gave Australia a narrow lead at half-time.
England were re-energised though in the second half, with Marland Yarde and Ben Youngs crossing while Farrell added two more conversions and a penalty.
Australia hit back through prop Sekope Kepu, but Joseph rounded off a brilliant year for England with his second try of the night.
Jones sent England out against Australia with orders to "break them mentally and physically" and while that objective was ultimately achieved, the start was a vastly different story.
Australia left as many as 10 points begging in the opening five minutes alone after Foley missed a simple penalty and a knock-on from David Pocock saw a try for Tevita Kuridrani ruled out.
Mistakes from Farrell and Mike Brown gave Kuridrani his chance, and it was an error from Dylan Hartley that enabled the Wallabies to surge ahead in the next passage of play.
The ball bounced off Hartley's leg in the scrum and Australia capitalised with ruthless efficiency by quickly moving the ball left via a long pass from wing Dane Haylett-Petty for Naivalu to stroll over.
England could hardly have envisaged a worse start, with the 10-point deficit flattering them, but suddenly they exploded into life with Ford breaking downfield midway through an end-to-end sequence of play.
Yarde was unable to win a foot race once Ford had chipped ahead, but the hosts persevered and were rewarded by a second Farrell penalty that acted as the prelude to their first try on the half-hour mark.
Kepu dropped the ball in midfield, although it was scrum-half Nick Phipps who was truly at fault for the error. Farrell stabbed onwards and Joseph sprinted ahead, capitalising on a kind bounce to cross under the posts.
For the first time, England led, their determination hauling them back into contention, but it was short-lived as Foley landed two penalties.
The match was finely poised as the second half began and it was the Grand Slam champions who landed the next blow, big carries from Brown and Hughes stretching Australia.
Faced by ample gold shirts, Joseph held the ball for as long as possible before skilfully stabbing through a kick that Yarde was able to touch down.
Five minutes later, and England were over again, Hughes' power and athleticism hurling Australia backwards and when a penalty was awarded, Youngs sped off and dummied Phipps before weaving over.
Farrell landed another penalty and the Wallabies now looked a pale shadow of the side that had ran amok in the first half. Instead, it was England pouring through holes, with Hughes an increasingly influential figure.
Joseph and Joe Marler slipped off tackles, allowing Kepu to charge over after showing a surprising turn of pace, but when Haylett-Petty was sin-binned for a late hit on Brown, their battle was over - and Joseph then picked off a poor pass from Pocock to seal the win.
