5 Talking Points: Steve Borthwick & Maro Itoje react to England 25-7 Australia - Autumn Series

England opened their account through Player of the Match Ben Earl, before Wallabies wing Harry Potter bagged a neat interception for a break away try along the length of the Allianz. The second half belonged to England, as Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Luke Cowan-Dickie all crossed the whitewash to seal the victory in front of a packed house in Twickenham.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE 5 TALKING POINTS FROM THE ALLIANZ STADIUM

There was a deafening roar of applause before the match had even kicked off, as 2003 Rugby World Cup winner and certified England legend Lewis Moody delivered the match ball. The Leicester Tigers and Bath icon received a boundless array of support, following his tragic recent diagnosis of MND.

The first points of the match followed a tense 19-minute stale-mate, with a plethora of handling errors contributing to a stop-start first half. Illegal action at the breakdown from Wallabies fly half Tane Edmed handed the ball over to his opposite man, with George Ford delighted to nudge home the first three points from the tee.

With a crack emerged in the golden brick wall, England sensed their moment and struck for the first try of the afternoon. A well-weighted box-kick from Alex Mitchell was won back by wing Tom Roebuck, before the Sale man shipped a quick pass to back-row bruiser ram Sam Underhill.

The Bath man then popped the ball off to Ben Earl, with the Saracen shown an open stretch of Allianz turf to break through and score. Ford's conversion established a nice 10-point advantage after 20 minutes.

However, the Wallabies then struck back, as wing Harry Potter was on-hand for a masterful read of England's attack. Borthwick's men shipped the ball to the wing, with Potter able to intercept Fraser Dingwall's loose pass, before then winning the foot-race to the other end of the pitch. Edmed slotted the extras to make it a three-point game before the teams departed at half-time.

Steve Borthwick channeled his inner Rassie Erasmus with a South African 'bomb-squad' style influx of five forwards all coming on at the 51st minute. The impact players would bare the fruits, as Henry Pollock added England's next try after 58 minutes.

The back-row bolter could not be stopped upon his break despite some astute tap-tackle efforts. Pollock recovered his footing to finish the score, and struck a new pose that will soon be seen across grass roots pitches across the country.

The Saints men would continue to march on, as Northampton number nine Alex Mitchell joined Pollock on the score-sheet. The halfback collected the ball at the back of a maul, and despite a slap-down attempt from Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakai-Loto, Mitchell ducked the danger and crossed the whitewash.

England flexed their forward pack once more before the final whistle, with Luke Cowan-Dickie commanding the start, middle and end of a dominant rolling maul. The Sale Sharks man dotted the ball down to establish a 25-7 margin that would hold to the end.

TRIES: 4 (Earl 20', Pollock 58', Mitchell 71', Cowan-Dickie 75')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Ford 21')

PENALTIES: 1 (Ford 19')

DROP GOALS:

YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Pollock 80')

RED CARDS:

STARTING XV: 15. Freddie Steward 14. Tom Roebuck 13. Tommy Freeman 12. Fraser Dingwall 11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso 10. George Ford 9. Alex Mitchell 1. Fin Baxter 2. Jamie George 3. Joe Heyes 4. Maro Itoje 5. Ollie Chessum 6. Guy Pepper 7. Sam Underhill 8. Ben Earl

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie 17. Ellis Genge 18. Will Stuart 19. Alex Coles 20. Tom Curry 21. Henry Pollock 22. Ben Spencer 23. Fin Smith

TRIES: 1 (Potter 34')

CONVERSIONS: 1 (Edmed 35')

PENALTIES:

DROP GOALS:

YELLOW CARDS:

RED CARDS:

STARTING XV: 15. Andrew Kellaway 14. Max Jorgensen 13. Joseph-Aukuso Sua'ali'i 12. Hunter Paisami 11. Harry Potter 10. Tane Edmed 9. Jake Gordon 1. Angus Bell 2. Billy Pollard 3. Taniela Tupou 4. Nick Frost 5. Jeremy Williams 6. Rob Valentini 7. Fraser McReight 8. Harry Wilson

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Josh Nasser 17. Tom Robertson 18. Allan Ala'alatoa 19. Lukhan Salakai-Loto 20. Nick Champion De Crespigny 21. Ryan Lonergan 22. Hamish Stewart 23. Filipo Daugunu

One of the stand-out operators for England today, as Steve Borthwick's side were well tested by the Wallabies. Luke Cowan-Dickie ran out for his 50th England cap, as he exploded off the bench after as many minutes had passed early in the second half. The Sale hooker was influential to England's second half line-out recovery, as the England forward were inconsistent whilst air-borne throughout the first half.

Cowan-Dickie's influence was immediate at the set-piece, with the front rower showcasing a deadeye's accuracy to pick out the line-out jumpers. The hooker's set-piece strengths continued on into the scrum, as the Wallabies were shunted on to the back-foot as the replacement front row of Ellis Genge and Will Stuart upped the tempo. The Sharks man would then smell blood as England tore apart the Wallabies pack, with Cowan-Dickie on hand to ground a dominant rolling maul to mark his half-century milestone.

MARO ITOJE: "I know that's probably Steve's favourite try of the game so hopefully we can do that a little bit more often."

"It's my absolute joy and privilege to play with Luke. I guess it's fair to say he's one of the most unique people that I've ever met. He's an incredibly talented rugby player, a tough rugby player, a tough man, and he's definitely resilient, and his journey to get here has been bumpy but he's always found a way to get back in the team, and he's a much-valued member of the squad, and I'm delighted that he's managed to get 50, and I'm even more delighted for him that he managed to get a try on his 50th."

If there was ever a man performing for England at a rate beyond his years, then it is the bright-eyed and bleach blond hair of the back row bolter Henry Pollock. The Northampton Saints man has continued his meteoric run with Steve Borthwick's side, with a third try to his name now after just two England caps. Following up from his England debut in the final match of the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations, Pollock exploded off the bench to a roar of applause, and wasted no time in making hard yards and imposing his defensive prowess upon the faltering Wallabies.

Pollock made his mark with a well taken try mid-way through the second half, as he followed up an aireal gathering with a solid supporting line to break into space. The Saints man then pinned his ears back and only had eyes for the try-line, with the blistering back row refusing to be denied by a last-ditch tap tackle. This stunning strike rate sees Pollock achieve a scoring record of three tries in 36 on-field England minutes, as the momentum only grows around the Northampton back row.

Pollock maintained his footing and recovered well to finish the try, before hitting the latest edition to his every-growing highlights reel of post-try celebrations. Joining the ranks of his 'check the pulse' and 'basketball flick' antics, Pollock struck a 'thinker' pose, that will soon be doing the rounds on social media.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "I think everybody's excited by when Henry Pollock gets on the pitch, what he brings, there's no doubt about that. I think he's probably the most excited person, I think the way he is and the energy he brings is a ball of energy and I love having that character in the squad.

"I think we've got a great blend of personalities developing within the team and from the senior leadership group, I think they've done a great job this week."

Whilst England don't have a fixture booked in against the Springboks this November, that did not stop Steve Borthwick taking a page out of the South African play book with a Rassie Erasmus style 'Bomb Squad' unleashed at the 51st minute. Borthwick named a 6-2 split upon the bench, with Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Will Stuart, Tom Curry and Henry Pollock all unleashed upon the same instance, in replace of Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, Sam Underhill and Ben Earl.

Whilst the entire bench was not unleashed at once as Alex Coles did not join the fray until the 72nd minute, there was a seismic shift in the forward intensity upon the arrival of the second half sextet. The aformentioned rejuvenation of the set-piece was paramount to England's second half break-away, with the solid leadership of Luke Cowan-Dickie changing the narrative for a domiant half hour to close out the match. Henry Pollock and Cowan-Dickie's tries only opitimised the efforts from the replacement forwards.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "I thought the bench certainly had a positive impact. I think it's a sign that you can see the squad's building in depth. It's been an important summer for English rugby and with a number of players away with the Lions and been successful down in Australia, another number away in Argentina and America, it's enabled the squad to grow and that's pleasing. It means I've got some difficult decisions to make, it's the exact decisions you want as a head coach."

MARO ITOJE: "I think the guys who came off the bench were fantastic today. You always want the guys to come off the bench to add and pick up the energy, pick up the intensity of the team, and they definitely did that. I thought they were all, to a man, fantastic."

JOE SCHMIDT: "I did think that the bench made a difference from England. They really did step up the level of intensity and the physical combat that they brought. And until that time, I thought that the game was really well-balanced."

There was plenty of expectation ahead of the match, that this opening round Autumn Series contest could be determined by the aerial success of either side. Two key England selections hinted towards this, as Freddie Steward was selected ahead of Marcus Smith at fullback, whilst Tom Roebuck started on the wing, with Tommy Freeman in the midfield (more on that shortly). Borthwick's decision to include both Steward and Roebuck in the starting XV added a high-ball feel to proceedings, as George Ford and Alex Mitchell routinely peppered the Wallabies back-field.

The high-ball contest was well-matched, as Steward and Roebuck battled in the air against the spring-loaded Joseph Sua'ali'i and Harry Potter. The former Leicester Tigers man returned back to England, and entered a back-field skirmish against his old club mate Freddie Steward. The back-three flyers spent a good portion of the match jostling for control of the aerial zone, with the foundations of England's opening try from Ben Earl laid by a stunning kick chase by Sale man Tom Roebuck.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "So Tom and I often talk about this as a reference point, where there was a number of conversations where I thought he was playing really well, training really well, and he was bang on the door, but I wasn't picking him.

"Generally, I was picking Tommy Freeman and Manny Feyi-Waboso [on the wings], Freeman on that right side. He [Roebuck] just kept doing the right things, kept working to improve, and it all came out in that Wales game at the end of the Six Nations, where all his hard work came to fruition.

"The opportunity came, and I get a sense from him, he just wants to keep grasping this chance. This opportunity he's got, he wants to keep getting better. I think last week he got a new PB [personal best] in his speed, so this is a guy who just wants to improve, so I'm very pleased with what he's doing."

At the heart of the pre-match build up was the decision for Borthwick to unleash an 'All-Saints' midfield pairing, as Fraser Dingwall lined up alongside Tommy Freeman. The decision to alternate Freeman in from the wing and shuffle inside to the midfield garnered plenty of mixed reactions, with Borthwick happy to back his decision as England secured the win.

This was one of a few positional orientations that Borthwick has recently unvailed, with the England head coach revealing how there are plans in the works for Ben Earl to continue his 'project' at centre, and to also unleash Henry Pollock out on the wing.

STEVE BORTHWICK: "It's one of the options we have, I think we've got other options as well. I think Tommy Freeman's a world-class player and gives you that versatility, it's excellent. I think potentially in attack today, we were probably a little bit over-eager and probably the combinations just weren't quite trained together enough or played together enough, which is why some of those line-breaks didn't quite finish the way we wanted them to."

"It's going to be important to have that flexibility position, especially if we continue as 6-2 [forwards-back replacements bench]. We know Ben Earl, I'd be quite happy to start Ben Earl in the centre, I think I talked in the week about the possibility of Henry [Pollock] on the wing, and it's certainly a project that we have started, to be able to cover that in a game, to be able to move there should we need to.

"The Ben Earl project we started a long, long time ago, and fed that into training before he had to do that. It really was Wales away at the end of the Six Nations [that we used it first], it did so well. It's probably another project [that] we started with Henry."