Fortress Twickenham holds firm

England 32 Australia 31

World champions Australia ultimately went the same way as Tri-Nations titleholders New Zealand, beaten after a pulsating, match which produced five tries and untold drama.

Once again, England won at fortress Twickenham, making it 17 tests and more than three years since they last experienced defeat on home soil.

But the wonderful Wallabies couldn't have come any closer to ending England's proud record. They wiped out a 10-point deficit just before the interval and established a 31-19 lead inside an hour, hurling England into a huge hole that not even the most ardent red rose supporter imagined they could escape from.

But escape they did, inspired by captain Martin Johnson, to secure a hat-trick of victories against Australia for the first time and leave a capacity 75,000 crowd breathless.

Just for once on their exalted Twickenham turf, England had to do it the hard way. No one though can doubt the courage, commitment and determination of Johnson's team after they completed an astounding fightback that underlined the never-say-die character instilled by Clive Woodward and his coaching lieutenant Andy Robinson.

"We were 12 points adrift, but we didn't panic," said scrumhalf Dawson, who answered his critics and proved a constant thorn in Australia's side after an erratic display against the All Blacks seven days earlier. Woodward knew that England had been given the toughest possible examination by an Australian side only denied victory through Matt Burke's 76th-minute penalty miss. "We didn't panic, when we could have done it was a great comeback," said Woodward, looking more visibly relieved than at any other time during his five-year coaching reign. "It was totally different from the New Zealand game, when we were delighted to win, but were disappointed that we hadn't reached the standards we set ourselves.

''We were elated to win this match, which at one stage we had no right to win. This is a big scalp for us." Flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson and wing Ben Cohen took top billing as an irresistible England double act. Wilkinson's 22-point haul eight kicks out of eight and a new England individual record against Australia plus Cohen's 17th and 18th tries in just 20 tests, ensured a successful retention of the Cook Cup. The acid test awaits next summer, when England's brief June tour incorporates appointments with New Zealand in Wellington and Australia in Melbourne. Meanwhile, France fullback Nicolas Brusque believes his side lacked the killer instinct to finish off New Zealand at the Stade de France. Les Bleus were forced to settle for a 20-20 draw after

surrendering an early 7-0 lead and failing to make full use of the numerical advantage they held for much of the first half.

New Zealand prop Kees Meeuws, fullback Christian Cullen and inside centre Mark Robinson were all sent to the sin-bin in the opening period but the All Blacks still managed to go into the break on level terms.

France created a number of opportunities but were unable to take them and Brusque said: "We were unlucky but we didn't take the initiative enough."