More heartache for England as Aussies steal it at the death third attempt the odds

THE Wallabies had the last waltz in a match of extraordinary ebb-and-flow drama at the Old Cabbage Patch, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat with an audacious, blistering injury time try by winger Max Jorgensen.

- NICK CAIN

It floored an England side that could be forgiven for thinking that they had the match in the bag after Maro Itoje had plunged over to score in the 79th minute following a series of lineout pickand-drives, with Marcus Smith’s conversion giving them a 37-35 lead.

It also floored the doom-mongering around Australia not being competitive during next summer’s Lions tour, because if they can build on a win that kicked off their Grand Slam tour of the Home Unions in style, they will be no-one’s pushovers.

Jorgensen’s try was the culmination of a crazy last 13 minutes of sporting theatre in which four tries – two from each side, Ollie Sleightholme and Itoje for England, and Andrew Kellaway and Jorgensen for Australia – saw the lead change hands four times.

However, it was an unlucky 13 for England, mainly because the Australians refused to accept they were beaten, conjuring one of the great lastgasp tries seen at this famous ground.

From the restart following Itoje’s try, the England lock’s knock-on gave the visitors a last scrum put-in, with most Red Rose fans ready to raise the roof in the belief that the match was about to peter out.

The anticipation was heightened by two resets as the scrum went to the ground. Even when Tate McDermott did eventually clear the ball at the third attempt the odds were massively stacked against the Wallabies remaining error-free.

Indeed, they wobbled through a few phases until two Langi Gleeson carries restored some semblance of momentum – and then, having sucked-in a tired England defence, they struck.

Brilliant handling saw the ball flick through the palms of Bradon Paenga-Amosa and the perpetual motion Fraser McReight, before Len Ikitau sent a reverse scoring pass out of the tackle to Jorgensen.