Rugby: England beat Australia 45-22, but two players are ruled out
· BehindLines newsroom
England dominated Australia 45-22 on Sunday 8 November in the Nations Championship, scoring seven tries and posting their biggest points total against the Wallabies. The win came at a price, however: according to Sky Sports, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso and Tom Curry will take no further part in the tournament.
A controlled performance
In his column for the BBC, Matt Dawson, a World Cup winner with England, judges the performance precise, disciplined and creative, well above what the team had shown in the Six Nations and in the summer games of the Nations Championship. He believes the Wallabies were not poor, but that Steve Borthwick's side were very good. He highlights the back three, George Furbank, Tommy Freeman and Feyi-Waboso, along with Fin Smith, whom he sees as a playmaker, and Henry Slade, in whom he hopes to see again the form shown at Exeter, less visible with England.
Pollock comes on at the break and scores twice
Feyi-Waboso hurt his right ankle in the first half after a tackle by Australian prop Angus Bell, who was later sent to the sin bin. Henry Pollock replaced him at half-time, on the wing, an unfamiliar position for him, and scored two tries. That makes five tries for him over four Nations Championship games; only Will Jordan of New Zealand has scored more, with six.
A growing injury list
Sky Sports reports that Feyi-Waboso and Curry, who hurt his hip in training, are out for the rest of the autumn. Seb Atkinson (hip), Ollie Chessum (shoulder) and George Furbank (groin) will miss Saturday's match against Japan. England hope to have them back to face New Zealand at Allianz Stadium on 21 November. Noah Caluori, who has two caps, could be called up on the wing.
Dawson also stresses the value of having a player like Pollock on the bench, able to cover several positions, which gives Borthwick flexibility in how he builds his replacements.