Cynical Wallabies got just desserts

Matt Dawson blasted the 'cynical' Wallabies yesterday as England celebrated their first double over the rugby superpowers of the Southern Hemisphere.

The Lions scrum half, whose tap-penalty set off the chain of events which eventually resulted in England beating Australia with a try awarded in the 10th minute of injury-time, delivered a withering verdict on the World Cup holders: 'They were very cynical and got what they deserved,' he said.

Dawson condemned the Wallabies for their tactics and spoke out against referee Andre Watson's failure to send second row forward David Giffin off for the left hook which knocked England lock Danny Grewcock to the ground before half-time.

'I thought he should have gone for that,' said the former England captain. 'I was also very surprised that they slowed the ball down to such an extent. In that, and other areas, they were being very street-wise.

'They are not the first team to be pinned on their own line with a scrum when, all of a sudden, one of the props goes down with a headache. I saw another of their props run to take his place in the line-out only to go down with cramp before the ball could be thrown in.

'I heard the referee say to him: ''You ran all the way up here and now you are injured''. Andre refereed it very well and he was not afraid to use the sin-bin. If someone is cynically killing the ball, they've got to go.

'They were very talkative on the pitch but very quiet afterwards. We deserved to win because we played more rugby than they did.'

England's 22-19 victory, on top of last summer's 27-22 win over South Africa in Bloemfontein, has given them two major scalps in consecutive matches for the first time. They did beat the All Blacks and the Springboks seven seasons ago but the matches were played seven months apart, before and after the 1994 Five Nations.

Dawson, a second-half substitute for Kyran Bracken after missing the summer South African tour following a shoulder operation, said: 'England have always been a team who could only beat the big three in one-off matches. It's a fantastic win, a huge step in the right direction because we have again proved we can do it.

'England's ambition is to win the World Cup but that's three years off so there is a long, long way to go. We have a very self-critical squad, lots of talented individuals who are always analysing themselves and constantly aspiring to become better players.' Dan Luger, scorer of Saturday's late winning try awarded after a video re-run, also criticised the Australian approach. 'It was pretty annoying, standing out there and getting cold while they tried to waste time,' he said. 'I was praying the try decision would go our way. When the referee gave it, I felt like I'd just won a million dollars! I didn't really believe it.

'We knew this was a must-win game. If we'd lost it would have left us demoralised, annoyed and frustrated. We know we can play a lot better but it says a lot for our character that we still beat such awesome opponents.' England manager Clive Woodward will be hard pushed to omit Iain Balshaw from his team for Saturday's home match against Argentina following his decisive performance as a substitute for Austin Healey on the right wing.

Balshaw admitted that the first he saw of Luger's try was when it appeared on the large video screen before it was confirmed.

'I thought he'd grounded the ball but all sorts of things go through your mind at a time like that,' he said. 'It was agonising watching it and waiting for the decision. We weren't at 100 per cent but beating the world champions will be a big turning point in England's development.' Skipper Martin Johnson spent the night before the match watching a tape of the classic Muhammad Ali-George Foreman fight - the Rumble in the Jungle. 'I thought near the end that we had punched ourselves out as Foreman did against Ali,' said Johnson. 'Luckily, we had one punch left.'

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