Pollock double helps England beat Australia 45-22 in seven-try win

England scored seven tries to beat Australia 45-22 at Allianz Stadium on Sunday, with Henry Pollock crossing twice after being asked to cover on the wing. BBC Sport reported that Steve Borthwick's side led 19-10 at half-time before pulling away after the interval, while Fin Smith contributed five conversions to the home total.

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England's opening attack initially appeared to produce a try for Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, but it was disallowed because of a forward pass earlier in the move. Jamie George instead opened the scoring in the eighth minute from a driven maul. Feyi-Waboso then broke into Australia's 22 to help create the position from which Ollie Chessum scored, with Henry Slade and George Furbank supplying the passes that opened space for the forward.

Australia prop Angus Bell was yellow-carded for a hip-drop tackle on Feyi-Waboso, and Joe Heyes scored from another maul to extend England's lead to 19-3. The visitors reduced that gap just before the interval when Max Jorgensen intercepted Jack van Poortvliet's pass and ran in under the posts. That score left Australia nine points behind at the break despite England's three first-half tries.

Feyi-Waboso did not return for the second half, prompting England to use back-row replacement Pollock out wide with no back-three replacement available. Van Poortvliet restored the hosts' cushion after the restart, finishing a move involving Furbank and Tommy Freeman before Bell returned from the sin bin. Pollock then scored twice in quick succession, first collecting a loose ball and later completing a longer-range move involving Smith, Freeman and Furbank.

Those tries put England 38-10 ahead. Australia responded through Filipo Daugunu and Jeremy Williams in the final 20 minutes, reducing the deficit and avoiding what would have been their heaviest defeat by England. Ben Spencer subsequently intercepted and scored his first Test try to complete England's seven-try return and settle the final margin at 23 points.

The victory came with fitness concerns for Borthwick. According to BBC Sport, centre Seb Atkinson left in the second half with a leg injury, while Feyi-Waboso appeared at full-time wearing a protective boot. The report did not establish how long either player might be unavailable. England face New Zealand in a fortnight, giving those concerns significance beyond an otherwise convincing win over the Wallabies.