Ashton's first try is one to cherish in phenomenal win
England captain Lewis Moody hailed the historic 21-20 victory over Australia as "phenomenal" – but he warned it is only the beginning.
Jonny Wilkinson revived memories of England's Rugby World Cup triumph by landing the decisive penalty after scrum-half Ben Youngs and Northampton Saints star Chris Ashton had scored their first Test tries.
England had only beaten the Wallabies on Australian soil twice in their history and both of those victories came in 2003 when Martin Johnson was captain.
Johnson is now team manager and he was under pressure heading into the game after last weekend's 27-17 defeat in Perth left him with a record of just eight wins in 22 Tests.
Moody believes England's performance pointed to a bright future after they finally delivered substance to the positive rhetoric that was beginning to sound empty.
"We have always said it doesn't happen overnight. It takes a lot of hard work but to sit in that changing room having just won in Australia for only the third time in over 100 years is phenomenal," said Moody.
"For a team that is relatively inexperienced it is a great platform to build on. We were disappointed last week because we didn't do what we wanted.
"We were more negative than anyone about our own performance.
"That changed this week and played with our pedal to the metal.
"We are not going to get ahead of ourselves. It is one step on a ladder that we have to keep improving on. We are improving game by game."
Youngs scored the first try when he burst through a gap at the back of a lineout and beat Australia winger Drew Mitchell to score.
Ashton, who was voted Guinness Premiership player of the season and he finished as the league's leading try-scorer, took an inside ball from Tom Palmer and rounded James O'Connor to score his first Test try.
"I am so pleased that Chris Ashton finally got over the line for England after scoring so many tries in the Premiership and Ben Youngs'
first start was brilliant. What a legend," said Moody.
"I have played with him since he broke into the Leicester team as a 17-year-old and his potential is huge.
"The speed and enthusiasm and the pace he plays the game at makes such a difference."
Saints lock Courtney Lawes also made his first start for England and produced a dymnamic display to help seal a famous win as Ben Foden also starred at full-back.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Kettering
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 12 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
