Wallabies beat England 30-28 to end 8-match losing streak

PERTH, Australia (AP) — A 14-man Australian side ended an eight-match losing streak against England with a 30-28 win Saturday in the first of three test matches, adding more pressure on embattled losing coach Eddie Jones.

England arrived in Western Australia last week after losses to Ireland, France and most recently a surprise 52-21 defeat by the Barbarians invitational side.

The Australians were forced to play a man down for more than half the match after lock Darcy Swain was sent off for head-butting his English rival Jonny Hill. But Australia scored three second-half tries to end England’s domination of Australia that dated to 2015.

The visitors scored two late tries to make the result close before 47,668 spectators.

Australia was hard-hit by injuries early. Wallabies fullback Tom Banks sustained an apparent broken arm during the first half and Quade Cooper was a last-minute withdrawal after straining his left calf in the warm-up.

After leaping high into the air in a bid to catch Nic White’s 22nd-minute restart, Banks’ left arm bent the wrong way as he crashed to the ground and attempted to avoid a head-first landing.

The Wallabies were completing their warm-up when Cooper injured his calf. Noah Lolesio was moved into the starting lineup in place of Cooper at No. 10 while James O’Connor was brought onto the bench.

Cooper led the Wallabies to five straight wins last year after his four-year exile from the national side. O’Connor was part of a corporate function before the match but was rushed to the dressing room to get changed once Cooper’s injury was confirmed.

The Wallabies led 30-14 but England scored in the 80th and 83rd minutes to close the margin to two points.

Swain’s red card on 34 minutes will likely see him sit out the remainder of the series in Brisbane and Sydney over the next two weekends.

The 22-year-old Lolesio’s kicking proved decisive for Australia, with the youngster booting three conversions and three penalties.

After the scores were level 6-6 at halftime, Australia extended its advantage to 28-14 in the 77th minute through Pete Samu, while England debutants Henry Arundell and Jack van Poortvliet crossed late.

Australia captain Michael Hooper said his side improvised well.

“We came up with a lot of solutions, so I’m proud of the effort despite a lot of changes at the last minute,” Hooper said. “You can’t script that stuff. You can have all those plans and then they go out the window. Our coaching staff did a great job of managing the game.”

England captain Courtney Lawes said his side was disappointed but pleased with the two late tries.

“Full credit to Australia,” Lawes said. “We probably didn’t execute as well as we should have, and they finished their opportunities.”

___

More AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports