Jeremy Guscott’s verdict: I didn’t think I’d ever see Owen Farrell score a try like that

It was a good win for England if not the most convincing of performances – but coaches and players are, in the main, judged on results and England certainly ticked that box. England played a team not at their best but they needed a positive result to build on in readiness for New Zealand in a couple of weeks.
I expected England to play a game of speed with explosion and control at the breakdown but the first 40 didn’t produce that quality. England could not generate the momentum, due in main to silly mistakes by themselves and Australia giving away lots of penalties.
Owen Farrell, normally England’s steadying influence with his accurate goal-kicking, missed three from five kicks at goal in the first half. Had he knocked those over England would have settled much earlier.
In the first half the lineout was wobbly, a couple of over throws and one not straight meant England kept heading backwards rather than forwards as was needed.
What England did well as a team was come out in the second half with more intensity which showed in their line speed in defence. Instead of sitting back waiting to tackle they stepped up quickly and met the Aussies head on, winning most of the collisions.
In the space of eight minutes (47-59) England scored two tries, one by captain Chris Robshaw, his first for his country, and the second by Farrell who also broke his try scoring duck for England. They had few problems shutting the game down from there.
To capitalise on momentum you have to score points and again England nailed it in that period during the second 40.
While Robshaw’s try was a bit fortuitous – the ball could have gone anywhere after Mako Vunipola‘s charge down of Will Genia clearing kick – Robshaw was the quickest to react and deserved the reward.
After that try England upped the intensity again. That had to have been   the message at half time: up the tempo and start putting some phases of play together. England’s build-up play to Farrell’s try was composed, they didn’t panic close to the Australian line and always looked to have control.
Farrell’s try could be a defining moment in his career. I never thought I’d see him score a try at this level where he ran through a gap – but the gap was there and he took it.
What I liked most was that he doubled back from where he was standing originally showing he’s playing with his head up and spotting areas to attack.
You have to admire Farrell. He showed great resilience to bounce back from a poor first half kicking performance to hold it together and produce the goods in the second half.
Mike Brown had a fine game at full-back. He doesn’t have those loose, bad games, he rarely loses concentration that leads to silly mistakes. There were only a couple of times he got caught running out of defence, although he has to be careful because the All Blacks will turn him over in those situations and score. I’m sure he’ll kick more against the Kiwis, he’s bright enough to understand the requirements needed to keep New Zealand at bay.
Because of the start-stop nature of the first half, Billy Vunipola had a quiet game at No.8, breaking only once in the first half from a standing start from the base of a ruck. To get the best out of Billy and his brother Mako in attack the tempo has to be faster than we witnessed on Saturday.
At times England looked lost about what to do and where to play, which always worries me. Stuart Lancaster goes on about leaders, guys who make good decisions. When England look lost no-one is making decisions and they need some basic calls to get themselves back in the playing zone.
In those situations players like the Vunipola brothers have got to get their mits on the ball and run hard and straight from some depth. Also someone like Lee Dickson or Ben Youngs has to make the call which everyone reacts to.
I thought Joe Launchbury did a decent job in the second row. He has the skill set to excel in an up-tempo game and has to continue to be one of the drivers of the faster paced game England strive to play.
Marland Yarde showed some glimpses of his rapid acceleration and also his inexperience by giving away silly penalties. But for a first game at Twickenham he did well enough to be out there against the Pumas next week.
For the Pumas I would like to see England sort the lineout. It’s a great attacking platform and maybe Dylan Hartley might be given an opportunity to make a case for inclusion against the All Blacks.
The scrums were easy against the Wallabies but England need to get their heads around striking more for the ball. If they get good, quick ball from the scrum it’s game on in the backs for smart moves and try-scoring opportunities.
England need to find the same urgency and accuracy in attack this week as they showed in defending last week.