England concluded their tour Down Under with a historic whitewash of Australia after a 44-40 victory in Sydney.
The RBS 6 Nations champions had only won in Australia three times in their history before this tour but they triumphed in all three Tests to write another amazing chapter in Eddie Jones’ tenure.
The 44 points racked up by England was a record score against the Australians, the second time they have broken that record on this tour, with Dan Cole, Anthony Watson, Billy Vunipola and Jamie George all scoring tries.
“We have scored 44 points and not played perfectly so there is still a lot to work on,” said captain Dylan Hartley.
“It’s been a long season – we didn’t want to use this as an excuse but it was evident out there.
“Australia threw everything at us, but it was great character by the guys to hang in there and close it out.
“It was our last 80 minutes of the season and I’m proud of how the guys conducted themselves. We have made some history. We put everything into it, can be proud of what we have achieved and will enjoy it.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to play the perfect game and we can all agree it wasn’t perfect.”
Scotland were also toasting victory as the boot of Greig Laidlaw helped them battle from behind to snatch a hard-fought 21-16 win over Japan in Tokyo.
The Scots beat the same opponents 26-13 last week, and had won all five previous contests between the sides, but trailed for much of this game before Laidlaw’s two late penalties made the difference.
Ireland by contrast fell agonisingly short of a first-ever series victory over South Africa with a 19-13 defeat at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Luke Marshall’s try whilst South Africa were down to 14-men due to Willie le Roux’s sin bin, had put the Irish ahead, but JP Petersen’s score gave the Springboks the half-time lead.
Despite their possession and territory, Ireland were unable to break down the stubborn Springbok defence and two second-half penalties was enough to give South Africa a 2-1 series win.
The day began with Wales coming up against an imperious New Zealand side who saw off the valiant visitors 46-6 in Dunedin to complete a 3-0 series victory.
It means the wait for Wales first win over New Zealand since 1953 continues.
Wing Ben Smith and centre George Moala both crossed in the first half, followed by Beauden Barrett.
Fly-half Barrett had a second after half-time and went on to score 26 points in all as Dane Coles and Israel Dagg also crossed.
