Farrell’s Saracens club-mates Jamie George and Billy Vunipola both scored second-half tries after Leicester Tiger Dan Cole and Harlequins’ Mike Brown’s earlier efforts.
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England won the first Test in Brisbane 39-28 with their previous record points tally against the Wallabies before securing their first series triumph in Australia with a 23-7 victory in Melbourne on the back of huge defensive effort.
“They showed fitness, they showed toughness, they were fearless”.
The back page of Australia’s Courier Mail for Sunday morning.
And Foley turned provider minutes later as Dane Haylett-Petty crossed on the opposite wing.
England coach Eddie Jones rolled his dice before the half was out, replacing debutant Teimana Harrison with his club team-mate Courtney Lawes in a tactical substitution before Foley slotted a further penalty to take Australia into the break with a slender 18-17 lead.
Flanker Chris Robshaw nearly gave England the ideal start to the second half when he snared an errant Wallabies lineout and crashed over the line, only to be held up in goal.
The Wallabies hit back when Michael Hooper reached out to ground the ball on the try-line for Foley to convert and level at 25-all.
Australia scored five tries to England’s four, but it was Owen Farrell who again proved the difference between the teams, amassing 24 points with near flawless goal-kicking on a bitterly cold night at Sydney Football Stadium.
While Jones stopped short of anointing Farrell as a world-class player, he left little doubt over his ability from the kicking tee and revealed that he has benefitted from training sessions with Jonny Wilkinson.
“It’s about performance. We’re not happy with our performance, even though we’re happy with the result”.
“I think mentally we know how we can play, there’s always stuff to improve on and play a complete game, but mentally it’s about getting up for this game and treating it like a final and finishing our season with a win”.
“They will be hurting a lot and they have got good coaching staff and will be well prepared for the game and we are expecting a titanic struggle”.
England are today celebrating an unprecedented trio of victories over Australia after winning an epic encounter with the Wallabies 44-40 in Sydney. We can all be proud of what we have achieved down under.
“We will enjoy this for now”, added Hartley.
“That’s what we set our stall out to do, we want to be ruthlessly competitive, to go home 2-1 might seem like a good thing for some people, for us we’ve set our stall out”.
England are now ranked as the second best team in the world.
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“And we can’t afford to get weak because while we want to be the number one team in the world, we are still miles away from the All Blacks”. He is determined to leave no stone unturned in his bid to propel England to the top of the world rankings and will spend the next week contemplating a potential reshuffle of his elite player squad, expected to be announced in August.
