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May brace helps England down Wallabies

Inpho
A brace from Jonny May on his 50th England appearance helped the Red Rose seal a stunning 40-16 victory over Australia in their World Cup quarter-final in Oita.

A brace from Jonny May on his 50th England appearance helped the Red Rose seal a stunning 40-16 victory over Australia in their World Cup quarter-final in Oita.

May crossed twice in as many minutes in the first half to put Eddie Jones’ men in control at the break before tighthead prop Kyle Sinckler scored a third after the restart.

The Wallabies, who defeated England in the pool stage of the 2015 World Cup, kept in touch with a Marika Koroibete try and 11 points from the boot of Christian Lealiifano.

But Owen Farrell maintained England’s advantage with four penalties and four conversions, before Anthony Watson capped off a fine performance with a try in the 76th minute.

England will now face a semi-final against the winner of the quarter-final between Ireland and New Zealand as they bid to return to the World Cup final for the first time since 2007.

Australia had started quickly and landed the first blow with a Lealiifano penalty after just 12 minutes, but England responded in style with the game’s opening try six minutes later.

Soft hands saw the ball spread wide to Watson before the ball was recycled and moved left to May, who held his line just inside the touchline and sprinted over in the corner.

The Tigers man doubled his tally just two minutes later after Henry Slade intercepted Will Genia’s pass and dinked a beautiful kick through for May to gather and dot down.

Saracens fly-half Farrell converted both tries to put England 14-6 ahead, although the Wallabies closed the gap with another Lealiifano penalty.

Farrell cancelled out his opposite number’s effort on the half-hour mark, however, ensuring England went into the half-time interval with a 17-6 advantage.

But Australia were not going to go down without a fight and after bursting out of the gates in the second half the men in gold and green opened their try-scoring account.

A fumble by Elliot Daly presented the ball to Australia and Koroibete found a gap in the defender before storming over the whitewash, with Lealiifano adding the extras.

England could have started to feel the pressure. Instead, Jones’ men responded in style as Sinckler race through the midfield from 15 metres out to crash over for his first international try.

The try was converted and suddenly the Red Rose were eight points ahead again – a lead further extended by the boot of Farrell with two additional penalties.

Farrell’s fourth penalty added extra gloss to the scoreline before winger Watson capped off a memorable night for Jones’ men by racing over on 76 minutes.

It was sweet revenge for England four years after they were sent packing in the pool stage as tournament hosts by Michael Cheika’s side.