England secure historic series win against Australia with heroic defensive display

England earned their first series win in Australia thanks to an heroic defensive display during the second Test in Melbourne. Eddie Jones' men entered the record books on the back of one of the great defensive displays in recent years, which was the basis of their 23-7 triumph at AAMI Park.

The tourists took a 10-0 lead through Dylan Hartley's try and an Owen Farrell conversion and penalty. However, the Australians – who were determined to win after losing the first Test in Brisbane – hit back through a try from Stephen Moore.

England established a six-point lead in the second half thanks to Farrell's second penalty. But then, their defence was put under enormous pressure by the Australians, who refused to conceded the game easily. Yet Jones' side repelled wave after wave of Australian attacks, before catching the hosts with a sucker punch, when Farrell crossed the try line to wrap up victory late on.

The one-sided nature of the game in the second half was illuminated by the full-time statistics, which showed that England had a mere 29% of possession and 26% of territory during the match. The tourists also made 200 tackles during the game, which is almost four times as many as Australia.

But England heroically withstood the Australians' unrelenting pressure to secure an historic series win and give themselves a 2-0 lead going into the final Test in Sydney. The victory is also another significant triumph for Jones, who has already led England to the Grand Slam since assuming the reins in the wake of England's calamitous World Cup campaign last year.