'Brutal' Australia review exactly what England needed, says Sleightholme

Ollie Sleightholme described England's review of their late defeat to Australia as "brutal", but insisted it was exactly what the squad needed.

England had led by 12 points and then trailed by 10 in an end-to-end encounter, but Maro Itoje's 78th-minute try seemed to have settled matters by moving the hosts 37-35 ahead.

However, in the final play of the match, Len Ikitau found space and fed replacement wing Max Jorgensen, who settled the contest.

The result saw the Wallabies defeat England at the Allianz Stadium for the first time since the pool stages of the 2015 Rugby World Cup when they won 33-13, with their tally of 42 points the most they had scored away to the Red Roses.

The result was their second narrow defeat in the Autumn Nations Series after the two-point loss to New Zealand, and their fourth defeat in a row.

Sleightholme came on as a replacement and scored twice in the second half to register his first two international tries, but provided insight into what followed after the loss.

"It has been really good to chew the fat on what happened and really get a grasp of what we need to do and what needs to change," Sleightholme told BBC Sport.

"It was a brutal view and it needs to be. It was a case of getting it all out there and not shying away from any of it.

"At the end of the day we didn't get it done. It is a frustrating review and a frustrating game to look back on.

"We left some opportunities out there and we didn't nullify some of their attacks. There are a few things [to work on] in all areas."

Defeat to Australia.#ENGvAUS | #AutumnNationsSeries pic.twitter.com/PbYWcyS5Hk

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 9, 2024

Saturday marked the first time England have lost four Test matches in a row since 2018, when they suffered five straight defeats under Eddie Jones.

It is the fourth game in five matches that Steve Borthwick's side have fallen on the wrong side of the result during the final play.

It followed two close Tests against the All Blacks in July and a 33-31 defeat by France in their final game of this year's Six Nations.

On Saturday, England will face world champions South Africa, who defeated Scotland in their opening match of the autumn series on Sunday.

"We're testing fans' patience, testing our patience," said England's Ben Earl. "It feels like we won the game twice against Australia and then managed to lose it. Frustrating.

"Not the same old problems, different problems, but the same overwhelming feeling of another game that we've let slip. So food for thought."