For a moment, as the strains of "Sweet Chariot" swirled around the Olympic stadium, it was as if England had clambered aboard a time-travelling Tardis back to 2003. Jonny Wilkinson kicking vital goals, the Wallabies floored on their own paddock and Martin Johnson restored to the winners' enclosure. No wonder the home side wore the haunted look of men who have just experienced a horrible sense of déjà vu.
The beaming English smiles also rekindled distant memories. Finally they have scratched a seven-year itch by winning in the southern hemisphere, securing the most significant result of Johnson's tenure by some distance. The big man needed a big win and his team came through for him, albeit with some help from Matt Giteau. The centre's two twinkling tries were minor masterpieces but the canvas was tarnished by four missed penalties, including one from right in front of the posts with less than 10 minutes remaining.
You strongly suspect this result will concentrate Australian minds but it will do much more than that for English self-belief. They were almost unrecognisable from the pallid lot in Perth, miles better in attack and defence. Some of us have felt for a while that Ben Youngs should be England's starting No9 and here was conclusive proof: the Leicester scrum-half had a dreamy first Test start, which visibly galvanised those around him.
The back-row of Nick Easter, Tom Croft and Lewis Moody were everywhere and Courtney Lawes rumbled like an international veteran. England's scrummagers did not quite enjoy the total dominance of Perth but it mattered not.
Whether it can be sustained is a question which can now be debated in more leisurely fashion this summer. While Johnson could not resist taking a pot-shot or two at his critics afterwards, this victory arguably proved the doubters right. When England are positive they look a different team; when they fret endlessly about the consequences of making an error they become deeply ordinary. Players such as Youngs, Croft, Lawes, Chris Ashton and Ben Foden represent the future and all of them respond best to carrots rather than sticks. Reverting to mean-spirited pragmatism must be resisted at all costs.
This was also a rare success against a country beginning and ending with "a", an elusive achievement in all codes of football lately. Australia, notwithstanding Giteau's waywardness, enjoyed nothing like the same impact around the fringes and the returning Will Genia did not look fully match fit. England, in contrast, were collectively two yards sharper from the start. Their line speed put immediate pressure on Quade Cooper and his backs and their kicking was also much improved. It is amazing what a difference it makes when the basics are done properly and backs are encouraged to have a go.
It was a slightly different story in the scrum. Dan Cole received an early whack that forced him off for repairs and the home pack enjoyed the satisfying sensation of wheeling their opponents off their own ball as England looked to turn the screw from a free-kick. The lineout was not functioning particularly smoothly either, until Youngs darted through a big gap 35 metres out and zig‑zagged past James O'Connor and Drew Mitchell for his first Test five‑pointer.
Scoring tries off first-phase possession proved contagious, a typically well-worked move ending with Digby Ioane giving Giteau the chance to slip past a flat-footed England defence. The visitors, though, have learned a lesson or two from the Wallabies about dynamic support running and Ashton soon burst irresistibly on to Tom Palmer's short ball to outpace both O'Connor and Ioane, later to depart with a dislocated shoulder.
England's half-time lead turned out to be short-lived, Mitchell releasing Giteau for another dart down the left which, with the conversion, put Australia back in front at 20-15. Toby Flood, steady rather than spectacular, reduced the margin by three before the Wallabies' old nemesis re-entered the fray. Within three minutes Wilkinson was lining up a kick of almost 50 metres towards the same end of the same stadium where he landed his extra-time drop-goal in the World Cup final. The crescendo of boos was swiftly replaced by cheers as the arrow duly found its target.
The last 27 minutes were frantic. Steve Thompson, believing the ball was already out, was penalised for coming around the side of a ruck and Shontayne Hape conceded another kickable penalty for barging Giteau off the ball. On both occasions, though, the centre could not deliver, his second miss almost ranking alongside poor old Don Fox's at the old Wembley. It was an off-target Giteau kick which presented Scotland with an unlikely win at Murrayfield last autumn; this one will sting even more.
And so to the final analysis. England have won four games this season – against Argentina, Wales, Italy and Australia – drawn one and lost five. Johnson has presided over 23 Tests and won nine of them. It is not as bad a record as looked likely a week ago and this tour will now be remembered with pride, regardless of the outcome of the final tour fixture against the New Zealand Maori on Wednesday.
Fittingly it was Wilkinson who belted the ball into the stands to finish the contest, proving that white lightning does occasionally strike twice. Echoes of the past were everywhere on a night which bodes well for England's future.
Australia: O'Connor (Western Force); Ioane (Reds; Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies, 63), Horne (Waratahs), Giteau (Brumbies), Mitchell (Waratahs); Cooper (Reds), Genia (Reds); Daley (Reds), Faingaa (Reds; Edmonds (Brumbies, 72), Ma'afu (Brumbies; Slipper (Reds, 72), Mumm (Waratahs; Chisholm (Brumbies, 54), Sharpe (Western Force), Elsom (Brumbies, capt), Pocock (Western Force), Brown (Western Force).
Tries Giteau 2. Cons Giteau 2. Pens Giteau 2.
England: Foden (Northampton); Cueto (Sale), Tindall (Gloucester; D Armitage (London Irish, 68), Hape (Bath), Ashton (Northampton); Flood (Leicester; Wilkinson (Toulon, 51), Youngs (Leicester; Care (Harlequins, 66); Payne (Wasps), Thompson (Brive; Chuter (Leicester, 71), Cole (Leicester; Wilson (Bath, 71), Lawes (Northampton; Shaw (Wasps, 59), Palmer (Stade Francais), Croft (Leicester), Moody (Leicester, capt), Easter (Harlequins).
Tries Youngs, Ashton. Con Flood. Pens Flood 2, Wilkinson.
Referee R Poite (France). Attendance 48,392.
