England have been eliminated from their own Rugby World Cup courtesy of a 33-13 defeat at the hands of Australia at Twickenham this evening.
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Stuart Lancaster's side, who become the first host nation to exit a World Cup in the group stages, made a number of bright breaks in the first half, but failed to transfer that onto the scoreboard as Australia gained control.
It was the Wallabies who got the first points of the evening when Bernard Foley knocked over a penalty, but Owen Farrell soon brought England back level with a kick of his own.
It was the Foley show for the remainder of the first half, however, as the Australian fly-half took the game away from the hosts with a pair of tries.
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The first came from close range midway through the half after some sustained pressure from Michael Cheika's side, while five minutes before the interval he went over again following some good work by Israel Folau.
That gave the visitors a 14-point lead at the break, and that advantage was extended by a further three shortly after the restart when Foley kicked another penalty.
The Waratahs kicker then denied England a certain try when he knocked on while trying to intercept a pass, but it wouldn't be long before the Red Rose finally crossed over.
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Anthony Watson was the man to hand his side a World Cup lifeline, breaking through two defenders on the wing before stretching over the line.
A pair of wayward passes from Australia handed England another break forward, from which they won a penalty that Farrell dispatched to bring the hosts within a converted try.
Any hopes of a comeback were dealt a blow when Farrell was sent to the sin-bin for the final 10 minutes of the match having tackled Matt Giteau off the ball.
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Foley restored his side's 10-point lead with the resulting penalty, and he added another shortly afterwards to hammer another nail into England's World Cup coffin.
Giteau twisted the knife in the final play of the game by adding another try, condemning England to elimination from Pool A and effectively sealing his side's place in the quarter-finals.
Barney Corkhill
