England 25-7 Australia: Henry Pollock & Ben Earl score at Twickenham
The opening exchanges were played mostly in the air rather than on grass.
Since last year’s legislation banning ‘escort runners’ and making it easier to chase players in contested innings, there has been a higher premium on the ability to claim high balls.
England full-back Freddie Steward, whose selection owed much to his reliability in this regard, initially struggled to stamp his authority in the backfield, with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Potter climbing high to force errors and regain possession.
Steward’s regulation catch in the 19th minute sparked ironic cheers from the crowd.
But England had other aerial specialists on hand if Steward took the time to take notice and winger Tom Roebuck outpaced Suaalii to slot in Mitchell’s box kick and once he returned to earth he slotted the ball to Sam Underhill.
Underhill sensibly passed directly to his back row mate Ben Earl; he also showed his pace as he moved under the sticks to add to George Ford’s earlier penalty – who coach Steve Borthwick has backed to make a Test start at center in the future – to make it 10-0.
Tommy Freeman, who was in the middle of the transition from wing to midfield, was unable to capitalize on England’s best opportunity so far and caught the ball with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso coming onto his shoulder and took control of the ball.
Australia, which won this fixture by coming from 12 points behind last autumn and beat world champion South Africa in August by coming from 22 points behind, still managed to stay under pressure.
Scrum half Jake Gordon managed perfectly to pass Earl over the line as the back row crossed the whitewash once again.
And then the visitors scored a magnificent counter-kick try.
Backing Australia on their own line, England looked set to extend their lead further.
But Wimbledon-born Wallabies winger Potter, who won the Premiership title under Borthwick while at Leicester, easily read Fraser Dingwall’s intention to pass the wrong pass to Steward, stepped onto the line, plucked the ball out of the air and advanced upfield to attempt a tackle.
Australia found a new physical advantage as the gap narrowed to three points.
Tane Edmed left Dingwall, Taniela Tupou rattled Jamie George and Suaalii scythed Earl in full flight.
The Wallabies were down on the scoreboard but rallied at half-time after rearguard action kept them within touching distance of the hosts.
