Rugby: England cling on to take down Australia

England players celebrate as Courtney Lawes raises the Ella-Mobbs Cup after winning the third test. Photo / Photosport

Wallabies fans have been left kicking themselves after a less than stellar outing on Saturday night saw them fall to England.

Constant errors and sloppy turnovers cost the Wallabies dearly as tries from Freddie Steward and Marcus Smith powered England to a come-from-behind 21-17 victory in the deciding third Test on Saturday to seal a bruising series at a sold-out Sydney Cricket Ground.

Eddie Jones's men slumped 10-3 behind, but bounced back with 18 unanswered points to take control and hold off a frantic late charge from the Wallabies.

England's defence, marked by fierce tackling, thwarted the shorthanded Wallabies to claim the newly-minted Ella-Mobbs Cup with a 2-1 series victory.

Jones's team became only the second England side to win a series in Australia after a historic whitewash in 2016.

Tom Wright electrified the Sydney crowd in the first half as he broke away down the wing before passing inboard to Nic White.

White almost instantly flicked the ball back to Wright as the Aussie sailed over the line untouched to give the Wallabies the early lead.

But as the first half dragged on, the Wallabies' penalties piled up and England cashed in. Moments before the teams walked off the park, England crossed and scored to head into the break with the advantage.

"Masterclass in foot shooting from the Wallabies in the first half," SMH's Iain Payten wrote.

"This game will be won by the team that makes less errors. Some howlers so far for both teams," Arvind Hickman wrote

The nightmare continued in early stages of the second half for the Wallabies as sloppy turnovers once again left the door wide open for England to punish them.

England's Marcus Smith pounced on a loose ball, resulting from a Wallabies drop, and broke through the line before turning on the jets and running away from several Wallabies players.

Sports reporter Bernie Coen wrote: "Well that was woeful Why can we never seem to get line outs right."

ABC sports' Beth Newman wrote: "This is so frustrating to watch. Wallabies just giving England so many opportunities. Way too many basic skill errors."

AAP's Fraser Barton wrote: "God this is miserable viewing. Discipline and handling errors again and again."

But just as the contest looked over, the Wallabies sprung back into life and Folau Fainga'a reduced the deficit after barging over to score.

Try as they might, time was against them and England held on to record the win.

- AP