Wilkinson stars in vain

Captain Steve Borthwick insists England must learn how to strike the knockout blow if they are to develop from mere sparring partners to heavyweight world championship contenders.

England slipped back to their lowest world ranking of eighth following the 18-9 defeat to Australia and a performance packed with familiar failings.

With Jonny Wilkinson in commanding form, England led for an hour. But there was barely a hint of attacking invention, and that match-winning platform was comprehensively dismantled.

England did not score a point in the second half as Australia cranked up the pressure and landed the winning punch with Adam Ashley- Cooper’s try ten minutes from time.

When Matt Giteau landed the touchline conversion, the Wallabies had moved two scores clear.

The England squad reconvened at Pennyhill Park last night, and Borthwick will demand they learn their lessons quickly before Argentina arrive at Twickenham on Saturday.

‘‘We put ourselves in a position to win this game,” he said. “We are tremendously disappointed.

‘‘We need to make sure we get ourselves in that position again next week, and push on.

‘‘We looked tremendously dangerous with the some of the opportunities we made – but we didn’t take them.

‘‘We can look at what Australia did very closely. We can learn from all these experiences about what we can improve on.’’ But Borthwick began to sound like a broken record.

The same comments were made after England were beaten in a similar fashion by the Wallabies 12 months ago.

England had their chances to beat Wales and Ireland during the Six Nations but fell short on those occasions too, and Saturday’s performance begged the question: Are England any closer to turning things around?

Team manager Martin Johnson has now overseen seven defeats in 12 Test matches.

His only victories have been against Argentina, the Pacific Islands, Italy and France in what was England’s best performance of his reign.

But Borthwick said: ‘‘We have come a long way as a squad. I believe wholeheartedly in what Martin Johnson is creating with his coaching team and this squad of players.

‘‘Everybody is excited with what we can do. That culture, we believe, will go on to win rugby matches.

‘‘There were huge positives to take from this game. There was a massive work ethic from all the guys.’’ The biggest ‘positive’ was the return of Wilkinson to Test rugby and produced an inspirational performance, particularly in defence. But he and the tigerish Lewis Moody could not stem the tide on their own.

Wilkinson had taken just two minutes and 20 seconds to put England ahead with a trademark drop goal before drilling a penalty. It was like he had never been away.

England’s disciplined defence limited the Wallabies to one real opportunity in the first half but, in typical fashion, Australia capitalised with Will Genia sniping over for his first Test try.

Wilkinson slotted a second penalty before Australia hit back, and England were fortunate not to concede four times in the second period.

Despite what was at stake, Johnson felt a drop in intensity from his men contributed to Australia taking complete control in the third quarter.

‘‘We invited pressure back on us and we really didn’t get out of our own half,’’ said Johnson.

‘‘That was down to lots of things. We lost a bit of intensity and accuracy after halftime and struggled to get it back.

‘‘A few times in the second half, we kicked the ball away too much. We were trying to get in behind them with attacking kicks, but it made it easy for them to keep the pressure on.

‘‘We did some good things – and at times we didn’t. If you let them dominate territory, as they did in the second half, you are going to concede at some point.’’ England were twice let off the hook as the Wallabies blew overlaps, before Ashley- Cooper held off two defenders to drive over in the left corner.

It should be noted that England were without seven guaranteed starters.

But Johnson refuses to use injuries as any kind of excuse, given he was able to name a 64-man elite squad.

Not many other countries boast that strength in depth and the resources to buy additional training time. But with those benefits come heightened public expectations.

‘‘I am not too down about this,’’ said Johnson.

‘‘We will be better for playing the game, getting into the rhythm of playing Test rugby.

There is a great deal we can take out of it.

‘‘You always want to be slicker and sharper. We try and accelerate that process in training.’’