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67 min: England press for the line. It’s great defensive work from Australia though, and the hosts miss a potential overload on the right. Instead they press close to the posts, without success, then go left and Johnstone is bundled into touch. Wane grimaces in the stands. Time’s ebbing away to keep the Ashes in play for another week.
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66 min: Reece Walsh is off to the bin for the late hit, which looks harsh given no one knew who who (if anyone) was going to emerge with the ball when they left the ground. Penalty to England.
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65 min: Smithies tries to burst through – it looks like a penalty but the tackle count resets instead. In a good attacking spell for England, the ball goes high from Williams into the right corner, with Dom Young haring in – Josh Addo-Carr gets hands to it at the critical moment. The video ref is looking but at first glance it’s superb defensive work from the Australia winger … but there’s a late hit on Young in the air from Reece Walsh after the ball’s gone.
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64 min: More changes. Fa’asuamaleaui on for Kolomatangi; Lees on for Oledzki.
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62 min: England try with a high ball of their own, but Walsh takes brilliantly under pressure. Australia race on but then offer a bit of rare solace to the hosts after the ball goes forward with Crichton in the tackle.
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60 min: Nawaqanitawase is almost in after another high ball from Cleary. He takes it superbly but on dinking it through it deflects off his own face. The Australia winger then drags Mike McKeeken into touch. The Sydney Roosters winger’s first-half discomforts in defence suddenly look a world away.
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58 min: Cleary hits Smith hard, as the Australians keep the power and the pressure on. Wane looks equally shellshocked in the stands.
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57 min: Cleary tries another 40-20 kick, without success this time. England are suddenly at walking pace getting back in line, while Australia look adrenalised.
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55 min: It’s completely hushed the home crowd who sense the series going bye-bye. Australia probe again with a high ball and Brimson is fortunate to emerge with it under pressure. The Kangaroos are bouncing.
Knowles swaps in for McMeekan.
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TRY! England 4-14 Australia (Young)
53 min: … and Cleary sends it high towards the right, it bounces off an England hand and runs kindly for Hudson Young to power over despite the attentions of Harry Smith. From nowhere, England are suddenly 10 points behind after Cleary converts handily this time.
Hudson Young takes the game away from England. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 12.09 EDT
52 min: Australia are in England’s half again. They probe the left …
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50 min: Changes. Oledzki comes on for England veteran Walmsley, while for Australia North Queensland standoff Tom Dearden enters the fray for Patrick Carrigan.
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Updated at 11.54 EDT
TRY! England 4-8 Australia (Munster)
49 min: It’s a fabulous effort from Melbourne stand-off Cameron Munster, who charges through towards England’s left wing, using the presence of two colleagues outside him to split attention and find a way through. He bounced over under the tackle but no question of multiple movements, as the slippery deck helps send him over the line.
Cleary’s conversion effort just fails, however, bouncing on the crossbar but staying out.
Cameron Munster scores the first try of the match. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 11.58 EDT
49 min: Munster might be in after momentum looks like taking him tumbling over the line to ground despite the despairing grasp of Williams. Video ref is scrutinising …
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47 min: More slippery ball moments as Johnstone puts the ball in touch. It’s back with Australia …
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46 min: Australia tap away at England centre. Cotter almost bursts through before Crichton spills under pressure. No real sights of the line yet this half.
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44 min: End to end already. Australia tidy up near their own line, England mop up on their 40, then Munster infuriates Walmsley by swiping the ball from his grasp. Advantage Australia.
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42 min: Australia kick long on the fifth tackle … and England defenders completely misread it. Tom Johnstone tidies up superbly, then makes valuable ground to defuse the danger as onrushing Kangaroos smell blood.
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42 min: England probe the right this time. On the last tackle, a high kick from Williams tests Walsh, who catches superbly under pressure but lands awkwardly on his back. He’s attempting to run the blow off.
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Second half starts
41 min: We’re off.
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Australia emerged first post-break in Liverpool. England are a bit less rushed, but KO is imminent.
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There’s also our 3pm GMT (2am AEDT) football clockwatch. And plenty of goals across Premier League, Football League … and the FA Cup first round.
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Elsewhere on this here site … England v Australia!
In other rugby, Steve Borthwick’s side are midway through the first half against the Wallabies at Twickenham. Sarah Rendell is at the tiller for that one …
You are currently existing in a strange, unprecedented spell – before approx 24 mins ago, England and Australia had never faced one another in two different codes of rugby at the same time.
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Much, much better from England. Honours are even, with Wane’s side having taken the lion’s share (55%) of first-half possession.
It’s not been vintage Australia so far, reflected by nine errors to the home side’s three, but England are currently making the pre-match odds, heavily weighted in favour of victory for Kevin Walters’s team, look extremely harsh. But there remains danger all over the pitch.
Impossible to call this so far, but England look particularly interested in probing the left wing, after several jittery moments from Mark Nawaqanitawase in particular.
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Half-time: England 4-4 Australia
40 min: Walmsley runs clear of the home line from the kick-off to ensure no late disappointment for England fans before the hooter.
Speaking of hooters, Koloamatangi takes a whack on his in the last collision prior to the break. Thankfully he checks for blood and looks OK.
A great half of rugby league.
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Updated at 11.27 EDT
England 4-4 Australia (Smith pen)
39 min: Easily put away by the Wigan man. We’re level again.
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38 min: Bit naughty from Walsh, changing direction off the ball as Brimson chased a high ball, checking his run and sending the England full-back flying. It gifts Smith a very kickable penalty chance.
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35 min: A fast-paced half approaches the break with some good defence from both sides. As Australia conclude a set, Brimson is second to a high kick as Walsh flies from another postcode to attempt a superb tap-back … he’s extremely unfortunate to see it ruled as a knock-on.
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32 min: Koloamatangi is on for Fa’asuamaleuai, with both sides now having freshened up their forwards.
It’s an extremely even game so far, but this is roughly the time that Australia really started to motor away last week.
And sure enough, from absolutely nowhere, Cleary pulls off a 40-20 kick to give Australia possession deep in the home half. Can they make it pay?
Not this time. A forward pass from Grant Cotter takes the wind out of their sails.
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30 min: Walmsley is on, replacing his Saints teammate Lees. And the veteran prop gets an early charge at the Kangaroos defence, which gets the ground buzzing. Now England probe the right wing with a high kick – no dice this time.
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27 min: A particularly strange one as an extremely harsh knock on is called when Dom Young tries to hold off five Australia players, changing hands with the ball under huge pressure. England fail with a captain’s challenge, but it’s riled them up in a good way and they go in hard on Fa’asuamaleaui, who spills it, gifting possession back. That doesn’t happen often to the Gold Coast Titans prop.
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England 2-4 Australia (Cleary pen)
25 min: Cleary makes it two from two.
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23 min: Some welcome possession for Australia, and Smithies – on from the bench – takes Munster’s legs away from him on England’s 20 to offer the visitors a regulation penalty chance.
Meanwhile for Australia, Cotter has come on for Collins.
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22 min: England are getting a lot of ball to their captain, and he’s causing mayhem in the Australia defence. But it’s Farnworth this time dinking the ball through on the right wing for Young to chase, up against Walsh. It’s very close to a try but the replay clearly shows the ball just eludes the England man.
Dom Young can’t get around Reece Walsh to score. Photograph: Nigel Roddis/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 11.49 EDT
