Preamble: Putting it bluntly, this is the point at which this new look, England-running-the-ball, less kickety, less humpity, more exciting rugby thing that Martin Johnson has been championing gets put to the test. As every pundit in the world has been keen to point out in the last week or so, the Australian backs are sensational, and their pack is not quite so sensational. So, will England revert to type and just keep the ball in the forwards in an attempt to stifle the supply to the Aussie backline (but make for a very dull game)? Or will they stick to the new policy, throw caution to the wind and let Foden, Ashton and Youngs make for some exciting England backs play?

Teams

England: Foden, Ashton, Tindall, Hape, Cueto, Flood, Youngs, Sheridan, Hartley, Cole, Lawes, Palmer, Croft, Moody, Easter.

Replacements: Thompson, Wilson, Shaw, Fourie, Care, Hodgson, Armitage.

Australia: Beale, O'Connor, Ashley-Cooper, Giteau, Mitchell, Cooper, Genia, Robinson, Moore, Alexander, Chisholm, Sharpe, Elsom, Pocock, McCalman.

Replacements: S. Faingaa, Slipper, Mumm, Brown, Burgess, Barnes, Turner.

Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)

2.13pm: One way to stop the Australian backs might be the weather. Hang on a tick ... *sticks head out of window* ... it's not raining in north(ish) London where Guardian towers are, so it's probably not raining in Twickenham either. It's been dry all day, so the ball can be thrown about with aplomb. England's backs need to maintain the defensive discipline they managed in the second half against New Zealand last week - rather than the somewhat suicidal, stepping up whenever they fancied it (Flood) tactics they employed in the first half.

2.17pm: Here's Alan Lovell, all the way from Florida: "For me the crucial battle will be in the centres. Tindall and Hape were not impressive last week so have a lot to prove against impressive opposition. Of course the battle will be as much in what they can create as well as how well they defend."

2.21pm: While England should have the best of the scrum, they'll be looking to improve on their lineouts after last week as well. Frankly, they were dreadful, from the calling to the throwing.

2.23pm: Oh yeah, England are in grey. Right.

2.28pm: There's the normal nonsense going on on the pitch, pre-game. An acrobat suspended beneath a hot air balloon, big flags stretched across the turf and manned by a squadron of soldiers. The Australians come marching down the tunnel, past the trophy and out onto the pitch as a Hollywood-esque crescendo of drums blares from the PA. Just to remind you, this is apparently a rugby game.

2.29pm: Lewis Moody leads out the England side, saying something that sounds like "Suck it up" as he goes. Great pillars of flame burst from the pyro stacks, clattering orchestral strings attempt to give the whole running-onto-the-pitch thing a sense of pathos. Because that's what running onto the pitch has always lacked and sorely needed.

2.32pm: There's a minute's silence before the anthems to honour the war dead. Next comes the anthem-singing: The young Wallabies may be the most exciting backs in the world, but they've got very little on erm ... er ... *struggles to think of an Australian band* ... AC/DC in the singing stakes.

2.33pm: God Save the blah blah.

2.34pm: Land of jingo, jingo, blah, blah.

2.34pm: Can we have the game now?

We're off: Toby Flood gets us underway, kicking into the Wallaby 22 for Drew Mitchell to catch. Quade Cooper clears long and Ben Foden runs it to the halfway line to set up a series of England attacks.

2 min: Youngs nearly finds some space for Flood and the fly-half nips through as England batter their way to the 22. Great attack but they eventually lose the ball and Kurtley Beale clears long. Ben Foden again runs it back to the halfway line. The passage of play ends with a knock-on from Easter, before Cole concedes a penalty. James O'Connor lines up the 52m kick.

4 min: A chorus of whistles from the Twickenham crowd mount as O'Connor aims the kick from the touchline to the posts. He misses and an announcement comes over the PA ticking the crowd off for willing him to shank the penalty.

5 min: Cueto is nailed by Adam Ashley-Cooper as he attempts to run up the left wing. The ball is eventually hoofed long into the Australian 22 but they clear, kicking again, and find touch on the halfway line. First lineout - let's see if England have improved.

6 min: They have. Palmer takes a good catch but poor passing in the backs leaves Hape in trouble. He heads into the tackle but England concede another penalty. O'Connor is lining up another penalty attempt from just over the halfway line.

7 min: O'Connor misses again. That one was much straighter but he still put the kick wide. That'll probably be the last we see of him kicking, then.

8 min: Australia streak forward down their left wing after sending the ball pinging along the back line. Eventually a grubber into touch allows England to win the lineout. From that, they attempt to run the ball out of their own 22, which is admirable but quite scary if you happen to be an England fan too. Tindall eventually puts his boot to the ball.

10 min: Those Australian backs are beginning to run, they flash the ball along their line twice in an attempt to breach the England 22. But twice the England defence are strong. They turn the ball over and Flood, Tindall and Youngs charge up the pitch, making it to the Australian 22 before a Wallaby tackle comes in. Fantastic break.

11 min: That was a brilliant counter-attack, set up by Palmer putting in a huge tackle to win the turnover. Eventually, Australia gave away a penalty on their 22 after the England breakaway. Flood lines up the kick.

PENALTY! England 3-0 Australia (Flood, 11min): The fly-half puts it between the posts to take his England points tally to 99 in 33 internationals.

14 min: Youngs is making all sorts of things happen from the base of the rucks. After Foden nips forward after the kick off Youngs throws the ball wide and Tindall charges forward. England have had the lion's share of the possession so far and they're running attack after attack at the Australians. Eventually, Moody fails to cling onto a bad pass and Australia win a scrum on their 10 metre line. Let's see how the scrums compare.

15 min: Hmm, not very well. England concede a free kick. Not sure what for but they don't complain.

16 min: Matt Giteau sends a low, long kick into the 22 and, for the first time, Ben Foden elects to kick rather than run the ball. England are playing well here, cutting out all the mistakes from last week.

17 min: Cooper chips the ball over the England backs, hoping for O'Connor to run onto the ball. The ball goes into touch though and England win back possession from the lineout. O'Connor is under the following England up and under (from Foden), and gets absolutely thumped by Mark Cueto for his trouble.

18 min: Flood kicks long and, perhaps, foolishly. It goes straight to Beale, who charges back with terrifying pace, then chips the back line. Fortunately Easter was on hand to get onto the end of Beale's chip but he has no option but to run into touch to evade Beale. Gary Naylor: "Mike Tindall has over 60 caps - does anyone know why?"

21 min: Flood concedes a penalty after quick thinking from Quade Cooper. He saw Moody coming to charge him down and flipped the ball inside to Mitchell who came streaming through the hole Moody had left. The Wallabies charge forward and Flood concedes a penalty on the touchline. Australia decide not to kick a penalty and set up a series of attacks. England are on the back foot, defending their line and have a kick charged down as they try to clear. Scrum five metres out.

22 min: Two scrums go down in quick succession, England are awarded a penalty from which they kick for touch. 1-1 on the scrum front, then.

23 min: England run another series of attacks up the blind side before changing tack and aiming a good kick into the Australian 22. Hape charges through to get onto it, but Beale gets there first. He kicks for touch but doesn't get much distance and England have a throw in five metres outside the 22.

TRY! England 8-0 Australia (Ashton, 24 min): Hape sets up a period of England dominance after running the crash ball. England keep attacking and attacking and eventually Tindall feeds Cueto inside him, who then offloads to Croft and the flanker flicks the ball to Ashton who crashes over the line.

CONVERSION! England 10-0 Australia (Flood, 25min): The fly-half takes his personal points tally past 100. Brilliant play by England so far.

27 min: "Does anyone else find it difficult to keep up with the changing personnel of the England team?" writes Ian Copestake. "Rather than scroll down to the bottom to confirm which player plays for which side I am assuming that the ones who give the ball away are English and the ones who do something good are Australian." Actually, today, England have been playing very well. Their shape is good, their handling is good and their tactics have been progressive. Hang on, is this really England?

29 min: Ah yes, it is England. After something good, they do something bad. They concede a penalty 10 metres outside their 22, five metres in from the touchline. O'Connor aims for the posts despite having missed two already. The whistles and boos mount and ... he misses again! Oh dear.

30 min: Genia hoists an up an under from a quick throw but Foden claims and doesn't allow the scrum half to force him off the ball when he's caught. Then Hape knocks the ball on and concedes a scrum. So far, the scrum hasn't been particularly pretty: two scrums, two penalties/free kicks.

31 min: Make that three scrums, three penalties. Australia win this one. James O'Connor must have some cojones inside those green shorts because he's stepping up to kick this one too after missing three on the trot. This is the easiest, being 15 metres in from the left hand touchline and 20 metres inside the England half.

PENALTY! England 10-3 Australia (James O'Connor, 32 min): He finally slots one over.

33 min: England win a penalty shortly after the restart. Ben Foden ran onto Ben Youngs' pass after the scrum half caught a chipped clearance from Quade Cooper. The England full back then simply refused to be muscled off the ball by the Australians, winning a kickable penalty in the centre of the pitch.

PENALTY! England 13-3 Australia (Flood, 34 min): No mistake from the fly-half.

37 min: An Australian attack along the wing is thwarted by some good, if slightly last-minute England tackling. Eventually, England win a penalty on their own 22 which Youngs takes very quickly. Then he and Flood link up twice to charge up the pitch. Eventually the scrum half grubbers the ball forward and, through Ashton, England drive for the tryline. An Australian hand, Giteau's, comes in offside and England are awarded a penalty when, perhaps, they could have been awarded a penalty try. Youngs is playing wonderfully here.

PENALTY England 16-3 Australia (Flood, 36 min): England take the penalty quickly, kicking a crossfield ball over the try line which Cueto touches down ... but it was too quick for the ref. From the retake, they kick a penalty. Giteau, the man who was offside, has been yellow carded for the offence. England are playing against 14 men here.

39 min: Lewis Moody concedes a stupid penalty in the middle of the pitch, 20 metres into the England half. This is kickable, even with O'Connor's boots o' whimsy.

PENALTY England 16-6 Australia (O'Connor, 39 min): The wing puts over his second kick of the day. And with that, the referee calls time on a brilliant half of rugby. Well, brilliant if you're an England fan.

Half time thoughts: England have been good; Australia less so. Actually, the home side have probably played some of the best rugby they ever have under Martin Johnson. Youngs has been creative, energetic and exceptional - Foden hasn't been bad either. Meanwhile, the much vaunted Australian backs have been starved of the ball. Having said that, when they have had the ball, they've been stopped by the England defence who have been much more disciplined than they were against New Zealand.

We're off again: Australia restart and, after a great take from Croft, England try to force their advantage in the sin bin period. Flood charges at the Australian line, before Courtney Lawes goes in at full speed too. Australia are then penalised for not releasing and Flood takes aim for a penalty.

PENALTY! England 19-6 Australia (Flood, 42 min): A massive kick from the fly half. That was a real monster and, though it only just scraped over, it still scraped over.

44 min: The England backs are on the march again. Rolling up the field from the Australian restart. Camped on the halfway line, England keep charging forward ... until Hartley gives away a penalty, which Australia take quickly but without much success. Alan Lovell: "So, genuine promise from England whose half backs and full back appear to be playing very well indeed. In contrast our forwards, who are supposed to be dominating the Aussies, have given away 4 kickable penalties. No team can afford to do that. Just shows how an unreliable kicker can lose games for you. Let's hope the second half shows fewer English infringements. It's up to the forwards to squeeze the life out of them now!"

TRY England 24-6 Australia (Ashton, 47 min): Australia edge up to the England 22, the forwards doing a battering ram job and eating up sin bin time. England concede another penalty which Genia takes quickly and much more successfully as Australia drive to within an inch of the line. He could have elected to kick for goal but it's more exciting that he didn't. He then goes again from the back of the ruck before the ball is turned over. Lawes breaks, then flips the ball to Ashton who runs the entire length of the field to score. An incredible few minutes. What a try!

CONVERSION England 26-6 Australia (Flood, 47 min): That was made by Youngs. Instead of thinking, "We've just turned the ball over on our line, I should kick for touch," he elected to set up a running counterattack. Thrilling. Flood kicks over from in front of the posts.

49 min: Australia must have been certain they were going to score then - to suddenly see Ashton streaking past them and over the line must have been soul-sapping. Perhaps Genia should have elected to go for the three points instead of taking the quick penalty. Anyway, he's been subbed, going off clutching his ribs. Burgess is on, as is Giteau who's back after his sin-binning.

52 min: Flood launches a high kick upfield and Cooper claims, then comes charging back. He chips, Youngs catches, then sells the onrushing Cooper a dummy before trying to set up an attack. A certain amount of kicking between full-backs takes place, as Youngs lies injured on the floor, and then Hape tries to fly up the left wing. Flood, playing makeshift scrum half, puts in a loose pass which Chisholm intercepts and Australia are suddenly on the attack.

52 min: Australia, in the England 22, steal the ball back after England had turned it over. Tindall, who's taken a knock, limps forward with ball but the Wallabies win it back. Basically, the ball is pinging about all over the place, tackles are flying in everywhere.

TRY! England 26-11 Australia (Beale, 53 min): A brutally sharp try from Kurtley Beale. He ran at Foden, chipped over the top of him and then chased the ball down to score. That puts the cream on the end of five minutes of flowing, thrilling and exciting rugby. Good lord, it's nice to see a game rather than a kickathon.

55 min: O'Connor slips over the penalty, so it is England 26-13 Australia. Danny Care has come on for Youngs who seems to have picked up an injury. That's a shame as the scrum half has been exceptional. Still, Care's no slouch either. Meanwhile, Cueto picks up a long kick, then slips through two tackles to charge to the Australian 22, where he wins a penalty that Flood will kick. Apparently this game was going to be all about the scrum ...

PENALTY! England 29-13 Australia (Flood, 57 min): Solid kick from Flood that puts England just out of touch again. Brown has come on for Australia for Chisholm, Mumm is on McCalman (I think).

58 min: Hape bursts through the Australian line and, looks to offload. He finds a front row forward (Hartley) and the hooker keeps the attack going as England run the ball to the Australian 22, where they win the first scrum of the second half. Giteau comes off for Barnes.

59 min: The scrum, almost inevitably, leads to a free kick. This time to England. The home side flick it one way then the other before Cueto nips through the Australian defence. He's stopped five metres out.

61 min: Care goes open and Flood feeds Hartley, who's also stopped five metres out. Care feeds Hape next before he goes wide to Lawes after another ruck. Cueto is lucky to get away with some poor handling - the ball went backwards, fortunately, as he struggled to get hold of it - but eventually Tindall concedes a penalty. Some desperate attacking from England but resolute defence from Australia. They kick clear for touch.

63 min: Delon Armitage comes on for Tindall, who looks like he's been hit once too many. He limps off, having made amends for a poor performance against New Zealand with a good one today. On the pitch, it's a lineout to England deep inside their own 22. From it, with a short line, they win a penalty which Flood kicks for touch.

TRY! England 29-18 Australia (Beale 65 min): Burgess takes the ball from the back of the lineout and bursts for the England line, before feeding Slipper who carries even further forward. The Australian backs then, ruthlessly, fling the ball wide. Beale finds himself with no-one to beat and goes over. England's lineout was at fault for that one, and the Wallabies punished them.

66 min: O'Connor misses another kick. Sheridan comes off for England, Dave Wilson takes his place.

68 min: Care puts up a high up and under and no-one can get their hands on the ball in the centre of the park. Eventually Care gets it again and slides another kick deep into the Australian 22. They kick clear and Cueto beats two men and gains 40 metres before feeding Ashton. He drives for the line but is stopped inches short. Hape then tries to get over too before the forwards heave to try and drive over. Then Australia give away a penalty. Moody looks tempted to go for the try from the penalty but instead does the sensible thing and offers the ball to Flood to kick for goal.

PENALTY! England 32-18 Australia (Flood, 70 min): Another solid kick. Palmer and Hartley come off, Thompson and Simon Shaw are on.

71 min: Australia are not beaten yet, their ball wings its way across their backs and O'Connor goes for the line, only to be bundled into touch to give England a lineout five metres out. This will be a test for Thompson's throwing, which was poor last week.

72 min: That was brave! Thompson throws long over the back of the lineout and Easter catches. Extremely brave, in fact, given it was his first throw of the day but it worked and England clear. Simon Shaw, incidentally, becomes England's longest ever serving player with his appearance today, beating Mike Catt's record.

73 min: England again run from defence and Flood comes flying out, turning defence into attack. The fly-half tries to chip through for Cueto to run onto but he fluffed the kick and the ball went into touch.

74 min: Again Cueto bursts through the Australian line. It's almost hard to keep up with how many times he's done that today, he's had a fantastic second half. He's stopped and eventually, England are awarded a scrum 15 metres from the Australian line. "If the Aussies lose this, will we be hearing complaints about the ref giving too many penalties to England due to Hemispheric differences in interpretation?" offers Ian Copestake.

75 min: Another scrum, another free-kick. The scrums have been a joke today. Care takes it quickly and darts for the line. There are a succession of rucks across the 22 as England drive for the line. Then, entirely unfathomably, an Australian hand comes in round the side and give England a penalty in front of the posts. Flood is going to kick, which is the sensible choice. If he gets it, and he should, this will be a record points tally for England against Australia.

PENALTY! England 35 -18 Australia (Flood, 76 min): Flood does it again, this is turning into an extraordinary game for England. A spectacular afternoon for the men in erm, grey.

78 min: Toby Flood comes off for Hodgson. Meanwhile, there's the first successful scrum of the day, which England win and then immediately concede a free kick from. Australia dink a kick over the line, before there's some confusion as to whether Ashton or Stephen Moore touched the ball down. The referee goes to the video replay which shows it was Ashton.

79 min: Hape very nearly intercepts in the midst of the Australian backline. He just can't get his hands to the ball. He would have been in - well, he would have been if he'd then sprinted 50 metres or so up the pitch and got over the line.

Peep, peep: There's a scrum, Australia concede a penalty. This is not news anymore. From the penalty, England watch as the time ticks over the 80 minutes and then thump the ball into touch for what amounts to a thrilling and fully-deserved victory.

Well, that was a sensational game of rugby. England were brilliant, free-flowing, exciting and ambitious. The Australian backs were nullified, the forwards battle that was predicted entirely failed to emerge and instead it was the English backs who were lethal and flying. Hard to choose a man of the match: Youngs, Flood, Ashton, Cueto, all were fantastic. Still, probably for the invention that Youngs brought to the team before he was subbed, means he's probably the deserving recipient.

"We believe in ourselves and I think that showed today," says Lewis Moody. "It was a great performance from the whole squad. Everyone stepped up. I'd like to thank Rocky and his team, it was a tough game but we thoroughly enjoyed it."

Rocky Elsom looks gutted: "The way they got through our defence on the turnover ball was a real issue for us. They were particularly sharp on turnover ball. A very polished effort from them."

Right then, that's that from me. That was a fabulous victory from England, playing the sort of rugby that excites crowds for once. It wasn't perfect, there were mistakes, but the potential in this England side is something very exciting.