Zimbabwe News Update
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The introduction of Pollock gives England the impetus they needed to see off the Wallabies in their 2025 Autumn Nations Series openerEngland 25-7 Australia(Tries: Earl 21′, Pollock 59′, Mitchell 72′, Cowan-Dickie 75‘| Potter 34′)TWICKENHAM — England’s game plan to attack Australia in the air paid off, and a powerful finish by the quality heavy mob of replacements including the game-breaking try-scorer Henry Pollock did the rest in an emphatic opening win of the Autumn Nations Series.Pollock’s try in the 61st minute was a superb finish, and he also had a late yellow card for an offside in a typically eye-catching cameo.Hoisting high balls can make an ugly spectacle when it is the only consistent tactic – and Australia weren’t averse to it, either – but there was just enough running and handling and demonstrable gains to choke the boos off in the Twickenham crowd’s throats.The first success for England came after 20 minutes, as Alex Mitchell box-kicked from his 22-metre line, and right wing Tom Roebuck – one of a trio of tall backs picked by England in the No 13, 14 and 15 jerseys – leapt to win a clean bat-down ahead of Australia’s aerial specialist, Joseph Suaalii.The back-rowers Sam Underhill and Ben Earl were up in support, and Earl had a joyous 50-metre run-in.George Ford’s conversion plus an earlier penalty had England 10-0 up, and it might have been more but for an interception and try-scoring break the length of the field by Australia wing Harry Potter: 10-7.There is an inconvenient law in rugby union that demands the ball is passed backwards.The way England’s half-backs Mitchell and Ford get round it is by kicking it forward.
With the ball on the ground, they could have done better.Three other first-half chances were created and then crashed and burned.First, Tommy Freeman got clear but failed to see the pass to Manny Feyi-Waboso outside him – maybe betraying the difficulty of Freeman being a regular wing picked here by England as a big outside centre.Then Feyi-Waboso gave a glimpse of his thrilling ability to beat a man, and then another two or three.
But the Exeter wing ran into a secondary line of Australian cover and never looked like seeing the possible if difficult pass outside to Mitchell.And Earl will be furious at allowing Potter to make a brilliant hold-up on the Australia line.Eleven minutes into the second half, England freshened up their forwards with a new front row plus flanker Tom Curry and No 8 Pollock coming on.All five were with the British & Irish Lions on tour in the summer, helping win a tight Test series in Australia.Pollock had the ecstatic pleasure of the game-breaking try, and again it came from mastery of the skies.Full-back Freddie Steward caught a kick on halfway and turned his body to present clean ball.One ruck later, Mitchell’s hoist was chased and retrieved by Roebuck, and there was Pollock, with his bleached-blond hair easy to pick out under the Twickenham lights.His one-handed pick-up was by no means easy but he took it in his stride and added an instinctive swerve past the first gold jersey, followed by a finishing sprint only temporarily impeded by a tap tackle.It was Pollock’s third try in 36 minutes of rugby for England, taking in his debut in Wales back in March.And while Ford missed the conversion, England had a two-score cushion, which they pushed out to a much more emphatic final scoreline as Mitchell scampered round the shortside of a line-out maul on the right, and Luke Cowan-Dickie was driven over in a spectacular 20-metre maul on the other side of the field.Source link
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