England’s unique Pollock, impressive pack, concerning injuries, remaining issues

England 45-22 Australia. A Test Steve Borthwick and his squad needed to win, and they delivered at Twickenham. But what stood out?

Unique Pollock shows impressive versatility on the wing

Sky Sports’ Michael Cantillon:

One of the main concerns for a head coach when selecting a 6-2 replacements bench, as opposed to a more conventional 5-3 split of forwards to backs, is backline injuries.

Owing to the fact one of the two backs in a 6-2 must be a scrum-half, that leaves just one player covering fly-half, centre, wings and full-back, or able to cover some of those positions with a rejig of other players on the pitch.

What is unique in rugby at the moment is the presence of a small pool of genuine hybrid players. That is to say, players who can perform as a forward and as a back.

Levani Botia for Fiji and Andre Esterhuizen for South Africa are two such examples of players who have played at back-row and centre. France’s Oscar Jegou came on as a centre in Dublin in 2025 and performed superbly despite being a back-row, while England back-row Ben Earl was been touted as a potential centre option.

On Sunday against Australia, England had a bench with scrum-half Ben Spencer and Marcus Smith – who can play at fly-half and full-back – as recognised backs.

Wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso – sensational during the first half – suffered an ankle injury and limped through to half-time, and when it became clear he could not continue, back-row Henry Pollock was the man chosen to come onto the wing.

At that point in the match, the difference was only nine points in favour of England – hardly a Test wrapped up – but Pollock’s very first carry on the wing was fantastic, motoring and fighting forward for some 10 metres to get into the Australia half.

In fact, it set in motion England’s attack which eventually saw Tommy Freeman race on down the right and pass inside for Jack van Poortvliet to score the bonus-point clinching fourth try. The hosts never looked back from there.

Better was to follow from the 21-year-old Pollock: two superb finishes on the opposite flank as part of slick backline moves run by fly-half Fin Smith where Pollock scored twice in two minutes to wrap up the match as a contest.

There’s a lot of noise from and around him, but all-action back-row with superb breakdown skills and the pace of a back? Well add part-time winger to Pollock’s resume now too. And that is a huge asset for Steve Borthwick and England. Potentially priceless, even.

England’s pack impress with brains and brawn

Sky Sports’ Ed Carruthers:

While England’s backline moved the ball superbly on Sunday afternoon, their attacks were only possible thanks to their pack, who built platforms around the field for their backs to launch attacks from.

Jamie George led the forwards superbly and crossed over for England’s first try, with the hosts showing not only their devastating power, but how smart they can be with their mauling game when they get close to the line.

After winning a lineout five metres from the tryline, with Ollie Chessum delivering brilliant service off the top all game, Australia disrupted England’s first maul. George, taking possession at the back, spotted a weak link in Australia’s defence and cutely peeled off with a group of his team-mates, before bulldozing over the tryline.

A similar story unfolded for England’s third try, with the hosts opting to maul again, before tighthead Joe Heyes spotted a gap on the fringes and skirted over.

Both tries were a brilliant combination of brains and brawn.

At the scrum, Heyes got an early victory over Angus Bell, forcing the Australian prop to stand up and concede a penalty. But at times, England were complacent, conceding a couple of silly free kicks for early engagements in vital field positions.

Lapses in concentration is one area England must improve on, with the hosts giving away silly penalties at the breakdown at critical moments. Alex Coles carelessly went off his feet while entering a ruck in the first-half, just as England were beginning to build momentum, with England conceding a penalty as a result.

Despite that, England were impressive with their rucking game and power through the contact. They outclassed Australia for physicality, which is no mean feat, given the strength of the Wallabies’ pack.

Issues still remain

Sky Sports’ Michael Cantillon:

For all that the final scoreline at Twickenham on Sunday made for impressive reading, and England’s players and coaching staff will rightly be contented, there remain issues which cannot get lost.

The amount of errors in the first half alone could, and would, prove so costly for England against better sides.

Indeed, cough up that amount of 22 entries against South Africa, New Zealand, France and Ireland, and the chance of victory would be slim to none.

George Furbank was penalised for a neck roll, Coles was pinged for going off feet, Feyi-Waboso spilled possession on the run, Heyes was pinged for an early shove at an England scrum, George had a lineout throw ruled crooked, a scrum penalty was conceded, and Furbank also knocked on a grubber-kick – all of which occurred in the Australia 22 in the first half.

Each were pressure-relieving moments, and when Van Poortvliet’s telegraphed pass was then picked off for a Max Jorgensen intercept try in the final minute of the half, the England lead was nine points when they could have been out of sight.

At present, England remain too profligate and it feels too easy for sides to get back into contests against them.

Borthwick’s charges also struggled to get on the right side of referee Pierre Brousset at the scrum, finishing with just a 78 per cent success rate despite possessing a pack that monstered Australia for most of the match. That has to be sorted.

They also conceded 11 turnovers in the Test, but it wasn’t costly as they won 17. Australia produced a horror-show of a display, but it’s clear England impressed in several areas too.

So overall, a good day? Yes. But there remains plenty of work to do.

Backline injuries take gloss off win

Sky Sports’ Ed Carruthers:

With big games coming up against New Zealand and Japan, Borthwick will be sweating on the fitness of both Feyi-Waboso and Seb Atkinson, who both came off injured on Sunday.

Seven minutes from half-time, Feyi-Waboso limped to the touchline in some pain after appearing to twist his right leg in a hip-drop tackle by Angus Bell, who was handed a yellow card.

Feyi-Waboso was replaced at half-time by Pollock, and after the match, was seen wearing a support boot as he walked onto the field to celebrate with his team-mates.

Borthwick confirmed his injury needed to be assessed, a concerning update given the Exeter winger is one of England’s most exciting outlets and caused headaches for Australia’s defence throughout.

Atkinson hobbled off in the 65th minute after appearing to suffer a hip injury.

Thankfully for the England centre, Borthwick confirmed his injury was not too serious.

What’s next?

For England, they next face Japan in their second Nations Championship Test of the autumn at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday November 14 (4.40pm kick-off).