England beaten by 14-man Australia in opening Test

England collapsed to a fourth successive defeat as their magic touch against Australia finally deserted them in a 30-28 loss in the series opener at Optus Stadium.

The Wallabies had second row Darcy Swain sent off for a headbutt in the 34th minute but Eddie Jones’ tourists were still unable to secure a ninth successive victory in the fixture.

It is the second match in a row that they have been unable to finish off 14-man opposition after being routed by the Barbarians at Twickenham in their most recent outing.

The story of the first half was the Wallabies’ dwindling body count as they lost Quade Cooper, Tom Banks and Allan Alaalatoa to injury before Swain was sent off for his strike on Jonny Hill.

Losing veteran fly-half Cooper to a calf injury during the warm-up was unfortunate, but Swain’s removal from play was entirely self-inflicted as he clearly struck Hill off the ball in the 34th minute, forcing referee James Doleman to act.

Hill was sin-binned for provoking his fellow lock, mainly by pulling his hair as the two tussled during and after a maul, and the Exeter man had been lucky to escape punishment for a shove in his rival’s face earlier in the half.

Perth was hosting the world’s fifth and sixth-ranked nations and both performed like the middling teams their positions suggested in a scrappy and chaotic match played out in front of a crowd of 47,668.

Ellis Genge crossed for England in the third quarter but Australia hit back through Jordan Petaia and when Cooper’s replacement Noah Lolesio nailed a tricky conversion, the hosts were in front.

Prop Folau Fainga’a delivered the fatal blow in the 69th minute and there was no way back for England who by now were coming apart at the seams, at least until London Irish’s