Pollock's Two-Minute Double Powers Record England Rout of Australia, 45-22

Twickenham was still finding its voice when Immanuel Feyi-Waboso thought he had scored inside the first two minutes. The winger raced clear, the crowd rose — and then the television match official intervened, the try was chalked off, and for a moment it felt like it might be one of those afternoons for England. Instead, what followed was the most ruthless attacking display Steve Borthwick's side have produced in years.

Jamie George crashed over from a maul after eight minutes, Ollie Chessum added a second on 26, and Joe Heyes powered over from another maul while Australia were down to 14 men, prop Angus Bell in the sin-bin for a hip-drop tackle. The same challenge may have ended Feyi-Waboso's afternoon — the winger went off injured at half-time and did not return — but it did not slow England down. Fin Smith's boot kept the scoreboard ticking, and at the break the hosts led 19-10, the only blemish a Max Jorgensen interception try just before half-time that gave the Wallabies a lifeline they barely deserved.

Whatever Borthwick said in the dressing room, it worked in about three minutes. Jack van Poortvliet finished off a flowing move almost immediately after the restart to secure the bonus point, and then came the two minutes that turned a comfortable win into a rout. Pollock, on for the injured Feyi-Waboso and shifted to the wing, powered over twice in the space of 120 seconds — on 56 and 57 minutes — and Twickenham, packed for a Remembrance Sunday Test, was on its feet.

Australia fought back, as they always do, with tries from centre Filipo Daugunu and flanker Jeremy Williams. But the response was fitting: replacement scrum-half Ben Spencer read a loose offload, intercepted it 22 metres out and ran in unopposed for his first international try with four minutes left. Seven tries, five conversions from Smith, and a final score of 45-22 — the most points England have ever scored against Australia.

It was a result England badly needed. Borthwick's side came into the game under real pressure, needing a win to stay in the title hunt in the inaugural Nations Championship, and they delivered it in the most emphatic fashion imaginable. It was also their fourth win in five meetings with the Wallabies, a run that underlines just how far the balance of this rivalry has shifted.

For Australia, the numbers make grim reading. Beaten twice by New Zealand already this autumn, Les Kiss's side have now conceded 138 points in their last three Tests, and the questions that followed them into Twickenham will follow them out again. The Wallabies were poor for long stretches — outmuscled up front, loose in possession, and punished every time they gave England a sniff.

England will not have it all their own way from here. They will wait anxiously on news of Feyi-Waboso and Seb Atkinson, both of whom left the field injured, before their next Nations Championship match against Japan at Twickenham on Saturday, with New Zealand to follow a week later. But on a Remembrance Sunday afternoon in south-west London, with a record score on the board and a 21-year-old lighting up the second half, those worries can wait until Monday.