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Wallabies beat England 20-14

Russell Jackson, NZ Newswire November 18, 2012, 9:23 am

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans knocked back the opportunity to give his critics a spray after his side's gallant 20-14 win over England at Twickenham.

Deans was under enormous pressure coming into the contest played in front 81,361 fans on Sunday NZT after France thumped Australia 33-6 last weekend in Paris.

It prompted several critics to fire off at Deans, including Wallabies' legend David Campese who said Deans should be sacked for destroying Australian rugby.

Deans was cheekily asked at the post-match press conference if Campese had been in touch.

The Wallabies coach stayed silent before he was then asked about the significance of the victory given the pressure he and his side were under.

But Deans turned the focus off himself and onto his players.

"Any result at Twickenham is significant, it doesn't come easily here," Deans said.

"We're very pleased for the lads and the way they played.

"They played, not me."

Australia repelled attacking raid after attacking raid in a tryless second half with all their points in the second spell coming from the boot of fullback Berrick Barnes, who kicked three penalty goals.

Barnes kicked four penalties for the night and a first-half field goal for a personal tally of 15 points.

Of great relief to the Wallabies was the fact they broke a two-Test scoring drought when Nick Cummins crashed over in the 35th minute.

The big Western Force winger finished off a near 55 metre effort after halfback Nick Phipps ghosted through some feeble England left edge defence.

Australia only led for a few minutes before giant Samoan-born centre Manusamoa scored out wide to make it 14-11 at the halftime break.

Man of the match, Australia's No.7 Michael Hooper, who was a constant menace at the breakdown, said the Wallabies' scrum was immense.

"That was such a confidence booster for our tight five, our scrum was very good tonight," he said.

Hooper admitted the Wallabies were in need of a lift.

"It puts us back in a great frame of mind for the rest of the tour. To come out with a performance like that shows the character of this team," he said.

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Pulika07:00pm Sunday 18th November 2012 ESTReport Abuse
Proud of Wallabies team. Pls stop blaming the coach. He is not the one playing on the field.... Deans is still the best and he has done good with CRUSADERS my favourite in rugby.... Se malo Robbie Deans
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scopa09:17am Sunday 18th November 2012 ESTReport Abuse
Good on ya TJ! The Wallabies were awesome in this win and deserve all the credit for responding this way after last weeks disaster. Little advice though? Don't put your foot in your mouth by making silly ill-informed comments like this. The Henry vs Deans contest is over and I suggest you read all the facts pertaining to these two coaches and their achievements before commenting in future. What you should focus on more is congratulating Deans and the Wallabies for the win.
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ron09:12am Sunday 18th November 2012 ESTReport Abuse
With the possible exception of winning a RWC final, one game does not define the success or otherwise of a coach. Remember only a week ago Mr Deans and his boys got a right flogging from the Frogs. What short memories some people have. Mr Deans and his troops need to show a bit of consistency and put a few wins together before anyone can start claiming that he's a good coach. So far in his tenure he's failed dismally to achieve that.
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Perplexed08:45am Sunday 18th November 2012 ESTReport Abuse
So lets see yu could call the lions tour next yr a Waikato v Cantab affair ah.Kiwi in fluence all though world rugby good ah.
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Warwick08:39am Sunday 18th November 2012 ESTReport Abuse
Well done the Wallabies and Robbie Deans; it's never easy beating England at Twickenham. However, I don't think Robbie will keep his job that much longer but maybe he will now stay until after the Lions tour. Suddenly though, after Wales' string of very poor defeats, the choice of Gatland as the Lion's coach doesn't look so smart; adequate coach but Lion's tours need more of a political manager than a coach to get the best out of players from the four countries.
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