Unsurprisingly, the Aussie press are in a lot better spirits than their UK counterparts.
The hosts have been sent crashing out of their own tournament, and the Australian media are full of praise for their team after a dominant win over England.
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Paul Cully commended the Wallabies on an outstanding performance and was particularly praiseworthy of referee Romain Poite.
“Finding outstanding contributors is like shooting fish in a pond. The scrum was devastating. By the end of the first half it was clear that England were shocked by the improvement since last November. They had no answers, with loose-head Joe Marler earning the displeasure of referee Romain Poite. All week English voices tried to convince us that white was black and his angles were legitimate. Luckily the Frenchman speaks a different language.”
In Green & Gold Rugby, Hugh Cavill claims the English were the architects of their own demise as he pinpoints the exact moment where the game turned in Australia’s favour.
“The play that summed up everything wrong with England, and almost handed the game to the Wallabies wasn’t Farrell’s yellow card. It happened just before. The Poms had a scrum 30m from their own line, with all the momentum in their favour and the crowd in full voice. With a solid platform they decided to pass to their blind winger Watson, who attempted a chip and chase but shanked it out on the full. It was a low percentage play that backfired brutally. Farrell was carded from the ensuing line out. A shocking option in a tight World Cup game, and they were duly punished.”
Steve Gee of Wide World of Sports could not have been more positive about the performance of fly-half Bernard Foley.
“Brilliant Bernard Foley has scored two tries as the Wallabies defeated England 33-13 at Twickenham to send the World Cup co-hosts crashing out of the tournament.”
“Foley was the puppeteer in a virtuoso performance for Australia, scoring all of their first half points in the opening stanza to silence the 81,010-strong crowd.
The flyhalf finished the game with 28 points to break Matt Burke’s record for the biggest individual haul against England.”
While Christy Doran of Fox Sports Australia summed up the general consensus of the game with three brief sentences.
“Their Rugby World Cup campaign, over. There is no two ways about it, England were outclassed and humiliated by a hungry Australian side.”
