Rugby Union Betting: Johnson rues indiscipline as England pay penalty

International / Geoffrey Riddle / 15 November 2008 / Leave a Comment

Geoffrey Riddle reports from Twickenham as England traded at [1.65] low before surrendering lead to crash to defeat against Aussies.

England coach Martin Johnson spoke of his team's lack of execution as they crashed to a 28-14 defeat to Australia at Twickenham.

Wallaby fly-half Matt Giteau killed off England's hopes as he kept the scoreboard ticking over with seven penalties after the home side's discipline fell apart. It was the highest score a touring side have registered at Twickenham since New Zealand scalped the Red Rose 41-20 in November 2006.

England traded at a low of [1.65] as they went 14-12 up after the interval.

"There were opportunities out there to create try-scoring chances, and we didn't take them," Johnson said ruefully at the post-match press conference. "We gave them kickable penalties and Giteau kicked seven. Test match rugby is generally won by the team that does things the best, and we didn't do that today."

The pre-match build up had focused on England's supposed supremacy in the scrums, but it was not be as Australia pinched two against the head and won a penalty from another.

Man-of -the match Stephen Moore was defiant afterwards: "I had every faith that we would get a result today," the Aussie hooker said. "We have worked really hard on our scrum, so I couldn't care less what was written in the press earlier in the week. We fronted up."

The pre-match perception by many was that points would be scarce and even at half-time, with the score at 12-11 in the Wallabies' favour, it was still far from certain that points would exceed the level set by Betfair at 41.5.

Johnson highlighted why he felt the game was scrappy in the first half: "There was a tremendous amount of resets, and it seemed to slow the game down," said the England manager. "That shut down our opportunities to attack at that part of the game. It was a messy area and slowed the tempo of the game down. It was too stop-start."

But although England scored the first points of the second half - the eighth successive time at HQ - it was Australia who motored away after the interval.

Wallaby skipper Stirling mortlock said: "I was pleased that we came out of the break and hit our straps straight away."

Although Australia only trailed for five minutes in the second-half, shrewd in-running punters were quick to latch onto the value. The Wallabies were matched at a match high of [2.62] in-play, something traders should look out for in the future.

England were unsuccessfully backed at [1.1] to make the most of Betfair's +10.5 handicap line.

Coach Robbie Deans said: ""We got home having led at the break, recently we led the All Blacks twice and hadn't got home, so I'm pleased that the side was resolute this time. We hope to learn from this."

Where now for England though? South Africa come to Middlesex on Saturday and Al Baxter, the Wallaby prop, had this to say: "From my experience, South Africa have some excellent kickers, and if discipline is an issue for England next week, South Africa can punish them from 50-60 meters."