Words by Tom Connor

The Wallabies’ final Spring Tour Test on Saturday night would be their last showdown with England before the 2015 World Cup, and it was the home side who landed the significant psychological blow. The Poms returned to their traditionally forward dominated game plan and it worked wonders against the men in gold, with the game finishing 26-17 thanks to two late George Ford penalty goals.

Casting an eye over the stats it’s hard to believe the Wallabies weren’t on the right end of the result. Dominating possession with 62%, the visitors showed their intent to run the ball as they notched 838 metres in contrast to England’s 205. This correlated to 30 missed tackles by the Poms, compared to the Aussies’ 10. Despite this, both sides scored two tries.

Handling errors (11), turnovers (17) and penalties conceded (12) were all far too high for an International team and ultimately cost the Wallabies their final Spring Tour match victory. Despite this, the signs were there to suggest that the Wallabies aren’t too far off the mark, and what a difference 12 months in Rugby can make.

With the Spring Tour done and dusted for another year, we review the final match and take a look back at who impressed us at Twickenham.

Rob Horne

Rob Horne has been in great form all year and that continued on the weekend. Renowned for his hard running, no nonsense approach, Rob did his reputation no harm on Saturday night. The Wallabies number 11 was relentless as he left the Poms defence battered and bruised with a number of strong carries up route one.

The highlight of the night coming for the 25 year old when he busted through a wall of white jerseys after taking a deft inside ball off Bernard Foley. Despite carrying a number of Englishmen on his way through, Rob was able to commit the cover defence before giving the ball back to Foley who cruised through under the sticks.

Sean McMahon

Its been a long year for Sean McMahon, who has surely played the most games of any Australian Rugby player, but it has finally come to a close. After captaining the Australian U20’s at the Junior World Championship and representing the Australian Sevens at the Commonwealth Games, Sean capped a standout year when he ran out to make his Wallabies debut against the Welsh a few weeks ago.

Thrown in to the deep end after receiving the number six jersey and the starting role, Sean was quick to find his feet on the international stage. A hard worker who is known for his aggression, Sean was again a solid performer against England. Without a doubt one of the stars of the future, Sean will return to the Melbourne Rebels a very different player to the one that joined them not even 12 months ago.

Will Skelton - @SkeltonWilliam

Much like Sean McMahon, it’s been a ‘giant’ year for Will Skelton, who produced one of his best performances in a gold jersey to date. Rising to prominence after a standout season with the Waratahs, the big Lock forward matched the physicality of the Poms and then some on Saturday night.

Known for his hard hitting defence and barnstorming ball carries, the 203cm, 135kg-wrecking ball was doing just that on the weekend. Ending the tour with a bit of meat, Will ran a classic forwards line off the hip of Nic White and crashed over three defenders to claim the five points. At just 22 years of age, the future looks bright for the boy from Sydney’s West.

Matt Toomua

Another consistent performer for club and country, Matt Toomua was again in great form against the English on the weekend. Having to overcome a number of concussion injuries sustained during The Rugby Championship just to play on Tour, Matt showed no signs of ill effect as he carried the ball with an ominous intent.

Constantly getting the men in gold over the gain line, he formed a powerful combination with the always-reliable Adam Ashley-Cooper who shifted in off the Wing to cover for the injured Tevita Kuridrani. In all completing a team-high of 14 carries, the English supporters will be wary of Toomua when October rolls around next year.