England 40-16 Australia: Rugby World Cup quarter-final report, highlights and scorers

England 40-16 Australia

England tries: May (2); Sinckler; Watson
England conversions: Farrell (4)
England penalties: Farrell (4)

Australia tries: Koroibete
Australia conversions: Lealiifano
Australia penalties: Lealiifano (3)

Match highlights

Match report

Winger Jonny May, celebrating his 50th cap, scored a first half brace to help his side recover from a slow start to lead 17-9 at the break, with Christian Lealiifano’s boot claiming all the Australian points.

The second half exploded into life immediately as Markika Koroibete raced in from halfway for the Wallabies, only to see his try instantly cancelled out as Kyle Sinckler bulldozed over for Eddie Jones’ side.

Australia had humiliated England in 2015, knocking them out of their own World Cup at the pool stage, and the men in white ensured revenge was complete as Anthony Watson ran in the fourth try with three minutes remaining.

England will now meet the winners of New Zealand against Ireland, who play later on Saturday, in next weekend’s semi-final.

Australia had been notoriously slow starters at this World Cup, beginning poorly against Fiji, Wales and Georgia, but they came out the blocks quickly in this one.

They dominated territory and possession in the opening 10 minutes, with powerful runs from centres Samu Kerevi and Jordan Petaia forcing England back into their own 22. A high tackle on Kurtley Beale, after the full-back had caught his own chip and chase, allowed Australia to take a deserved 3-0 lead through the boot of Lealiifano.

That woke the English up and in a blink of an eye had raced into a 12-3 lead through May’s double.

First, after dominate pressure on the Australian line England created a three-on-two overlap on the left blindside for May to dive over in the corner.

Just moments later England turned over an Australian attack in their own 22, with the ball falling into the hands of Henry Slade. The centre set off at pace and as he was being caught 40 metres out he cleverly kicked to the left where May superbly collected the bouncing ball under pressure to again finish in the corner.

Captain Owen Farrell, playing at fly-half after the controversial dropping of George Ford, slotted both conversations.

Lealiifano and Farrell then exchanged penalties as the first half migrated into a tight arm wrestle, with both sides' fierce defence forcing handling errors, penalties and turnovers from their opponent.

Lealiifano struck his third penalty right on half-time to bring his team back into the contest, after the Wallabies won a scrum penalty in the England 22.

England were caught cold at the start of the second period, with Michael Cheika’s side spinning the ball wide early inside their own half, which allowed Koroibete to sprint in from 50 metres.

But sitting just one point behind, the Wallabies momentum was instantly removed, as Sinckler scored. Clever running lines created a huge gap on the 22 and a beautiful flat pass from Farrell allowed the prop to race through to score his first England try.

The Green and Gold, who finished second in their pool behind Wales, attempted another comeback but England’s defensive remained impressive, turning over possession on their own line, just as the Wallabies looked in for another score.

That seemed to break their opponents’ will and England were to add the next points. Australia desperately conceded a penalty as an England rolling maul looked destined to deliver their fourth try and Farrell confidently extended the lead to 14 points, before slotting another penalty with seven minutes remaining.

England were to eventually earn that deserved fourth try to seal a hugely impressive victory. With time running out Australia were forced to run the ball from deep and Anthony Watson read a looped wide pass to intercept the floating ball and cruise in from 20 out.

Farrell added the simple conversation to finish the match with 20 points.

England last reached a semi-final in 2007, when they again defeated Australia in the last eight, then beating hosts France in the semis. England were defeat in the Paris final by South Africa.

Match reaction

• Eddie Jones

Eddie Jones hailed his players' Samurai spirit following a record-equalling victory.

"It was a do-or-die game today," England head coach Jones said.

"And the best Samurai were always the guys who had a plan but could adapt, had a calm head but were full of aggression, and I thought we were like that today.

"The challenge is how we get better, because there is always a better Samurai around the corner.

"We want to keep challenging ourselves. How do we get better next week?"

England led only 17-16 early in the second-half, before scoring 23 unanswered points and leaving their opponents searching for answers.

Prop Kyle Sinckler and wing Anthony Watson followed May over the Wallabies try-line in one of England's most efficient performances under Jones.

"He (Sinckler) found himself in an advanced attacking position (for his try) and got a great pass from Owen (Farrell) and then he was a runaway rhino," Jones added.

"I'm really impressed by how hard he is working at improving his game.

"I thought (flankers) Tom Curry and Sam Underhill did very well, and the young fella Lewis Ludlam when he went on.

"The effort from Billy Vunipola was outstanding, absolutely outstanding. Maybe it helped having his wife here, so we have to make sure his wife stays next week!"

And on May, he said: "It is a great achievement to play 50 times for your country. There is probably not a more professional player than him.

"He showed what a good finisher he is. He just had a little bit of a twinge at the end, so we took him off, but he should be fine."

• Owen Farrell

Farrell, meanwhile, praised his team's response after Australia clawed the contest back to a one-point game.

"The boys were calm and in control, and we had clear messages about what we were going to do next," said Farrell, who landed four penalties and four conversions.

"The lads ripped into that and we managed to get some points back straightaway.

"This was a good performance, but we don't feel we are at our best yet.

"We are probably going to have to be better next week, so we are looking forward to working that out."

• Michael Cheika

Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika was non-committal about his future in the job after seeing England post an emphatic triumph.

"I am being honest, it's a cruel world when you are being asked those questions two minutes after being knocked out of a World Cup," he said.

"If you could find some compassion. Perhaps whatever your news outlet is, just think about people's feelings, just chill.

"They (England) played very well, very well organised defensively. They have obviously got a certain way they play the game.

"An exit is an exit. It doesn't matter if it's a final or a quarter-final. The opponent is irrelevant.

"For all the carry on, we are just going out to compete - it's painful either way."

Match facts

• England's 24-point margin of victory was their biggest in a World Cup knockout game and Australia's heaviest defeat in the knockouts.
• This was England's joint biggest victory against Australia in Test history (matching the 30-6 win in November 2017); in fact, England's three biggest wins against the Wallabies have come under Eddie Jones.
• Australia have lost just three of their nine Rugby World Cup quarter-final matches, each of those three defeats has come against England (also 1995, 2007).
• Jonny May became the first player to score a brace of tries in a World Cup knock-out match for England since Will Carling and Rory Underwood both crossed twice against New Zealand in the 1995 semi-final.
• Sam Underhill (20), Mako Vunipola (18), Jamie George (17), and Owen Farrell (17) all surpassed the previous highest tackle tally in a World Cup match by an England player (five players previously made 16).
• Kyle Sinckler became just the sixth prop to score a try in a World Cup knockout game and the first since Tony Woodcock in the 2011 final.