England 37-42 Australia: Conceding 42 points on home soil is unforgivable – Jamie George

England take 42 points at home in the Autumn Nations Series defeat to Australia Captain Jamie George says it’s “inexcusable”.

Maro Itoje’s 78th-minute try appeared to end Steve Borthwick’s run of three consecutive defeats.

But substitute wing Max Jorgensen stole the game four minutes into injury time as the England defense leaked Twickenham’s fifth try at the Allianz Stadium.

“It’s a good balance between closing shop and trying to see the win rather than attacking,” George told TNT Sports.

“We talk about being brave and courageous and this (Maro Itoje) trial was exactly that.

“The system and the principles totally work. We know it works, but we didn’t quite get what we wanted.

“To miss out on 42 points at home is inexcusable. They get the ball on the front foot and there are some pretty good runners out there.”

The last time England conceded more than 40 points at Twickenham was a record 53-10 defeat to France in last year’s Six Nations.

England led Joe Schmidt’s Australia by 12 points after Chandler Cunningham-South’s two first-half tries, but gave up that advantage at half-time.

The home team, under new defense coach Joe El-Abd, could not live with Australia’s dangerous attacking talent.

While substitute wing Ollie Sleightholme put England ahead 30-28 in the last 10 minutes, the visitors allowed Andrew Kellaway to take the lead with five minutes left.

Despite regaining the advantage thanks to Itoje, England were unable to close out the game after the restart.

The result was similar to last weekend’s 24-22 defeat to New Zealand, when England conceded a try in the 76th minute and took an eight-point lead.

This was the fourth consecutive match in which Borthwick’s team had ended up on the wrong end of the final game, following two close Tests against the All Blacks in July.

His team also lost 33-31 to France in the final match of this year’s Six Nations, thanks to a late penalty from Thomas Ramos.

Former England wing Ugo Monye says their defeat against Australia was like “groundhog day” and being “unlucky” is no longer an excuse.

“The finish is the constant nightmare of not being able to finish a match,” he told TNT Sports.

“This is a real problem and it’s no longer out of luck. It’s a continuing trend in the UK.”