Played in front of a ground record attendance of 44,063, the two sides turned on a point scoring blitz with a total of nine tries in an enthralling contest which featured six lead changes and ended in a 44-40 England victory.

With the triumph, the visitors completed a three-nil whitewash in the series and were once again propelled by the laser-like boot of inside centre Owen Farrell, who produced his second 24-point haul of the tour.

A try a piece in the first quarter of the match highlighted the attacking intent of the two nations as Dan Cole and Bernard Coley crossed for England and Australia respectively to level the scores at 7-7.

The Wallabies then snatched the lead through precision passing which was finished out wide by Dane Haylett-Petty, who scooted over for his maiden Test try, taking the score to 12-7.

Both Australia and England traded penalties and it was 15-10 to the home side when England clawed back the lead with a try to Mike Brown, who dragged two defenders and slid across the line.

The lead changed hands again however, when a Foley penalty goal on the stroke of half time gave the Wallabies an 18-17 advantage at the break.

It was a disastrous start to the second stanza for the men in gold when Billy Vunipola caught the defence unaware and powered over out wide after taking off from the back of the scrum.

Another Farrell penalty goal extended England’s lead to 25-18, but it wasn’t long before the scores were knotted once again courtesy of the outstretched arms of Michael Hooper who continued his hot try scoring form after being given the green light by the TMO for grounding the ball on the line.

After a further three points from Farrell, the Wallabies kicked up a gear, as Matt Toomua sliced through and found Israel Folau on the inside to give the home side the ascendancy once more at 32-28 after Foley’s conversion.

Another England penalty bridged the gap to one point, but then the tourists landed what would be the telling blow in the 67th minute when replacement hooker Jamie George scored a scrappy try next to the posts after a loose pass, which was touched by a Wallabies defender, propelled forward off his legs as he reached down to collect it and rolled in goal for the big number 16 to dive upon.

Both sides traded penalties as each looked to crack the other’s defence but the visitors held a 44-35 advantage until the siren sounded. The Wallabies continued to attack after the bell and eventually found their fifth try of the night when replacement winger Taqele Naiyaravoro crashed over.

It was Australia’s first defeat at the Sydney venue since 1995 and the 3-0 series defeat was the first suffered by the Wallabies since 1971.

How it happened:
11 mins: Dan Cole try, Owen Farrell con AUS 0-7 ENG
13 mins: Bernard Foley try, con AUS 7-7 ENG
21 mins: Dane Haylett-Petty try AUS 12-7 ENG
26 mins: Owen Farrell pen AUS 12-10 ENG
28 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 15-10 ENG
30 mins: Mike Brown try, Owen Farrell con AUS 15-17 ENG
40 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 18-17 ENG
HALF TIME
44 mins: Billy Vunipola try AUS 18-22 ENG
48 mins: Owen Farrell pen AUS 18-25 ENG
51 mins: Michael Hooper try, Bernard Foley con AUS 25-25 ENG
56 mins: Owen Farrell pen AUS 25-28 ENG
58 mins: Israel Folau try, Bernard Foley con AUS 32-28 ENG
62 mins: Owen Farrell pen AUS 32-31 ENG
67 mins: Jamie George try, Owen Farrell con AUS 32-38 ENG
70 mins: Owen Farrell pen AUS 32-41 ENG
72 mins: Bernard Foley pen AUS 35-41 ENG
80 mins: Owen Farrell pen AUS 35-44 ENG
80 mins: Taqele Naiyaravoro try AUS 40-44 ENG
FULL TIME

England 44 (Dan Cole, Mike Brown, Billy Vunipola, Jamie George tries; Owen Farrell 3 cons; 6 pens) defeated Australia 40 (Bernard Foley, Dane Haylett-Petty, Michael Hooper, Israel Folau, Taqele Naiyaravoro tries; Bernard Foley 3 cons; 3 pens)