LONDON – Max Jorgensen’s last-gasp try gave Australia a dramatic 42-37 victory over England on Saturday in a frenetic 10-try match in which the lead changed hands four times in a stunning final 15 minutes.

England thought they had it when Marcus Smith converted Maro Itoje’s goal in the 78th minute, only for the irrepressible Wallabies to dig deep and somehow pull off the surprise victory.

It was only their second win in 12 matches against England and their first in five at Twickenham since their 2015 World Cup group victory, and left the hosts shaking their heads after a fourth successive defeat.

Unlike the last three matches against New Zealand, England, as promised, kept playing in the final quarter, but unfortunately for them, so did Australia, who had a spectacular start to their Grand Slam tour.

England had opened up with a magnificent try after five minutes. Ollie Lawrence, who barely touched the ball last week, took a low, probing kick from Marcus Smith and, six precise passes later, Chandler Cunningham-South pounced.

Seven minutes later, the flanker got his second, surprising the Australian defense by taking a penalty after another hard break from Smith.

England lost flanker Tom Curry, knocked out by a knee to the head while making a tackle, after 23 minutes and that seemed to unsettle them as Australia, playing with real ambition and adventure, took control, albeit aided by a storm of failed tackles.

A sublime one-handed, no-look pass from center Joseph Suaalii, the 21-year-old converted rugby league player playing his first senior match in the union, sent fullback Tom Wright ahead of Tate McDermott, as a blood replacement in scrum-half, then made an immediate impact with a great dart to feed Harry Wilson for a second.

More pressure earned them a penalty which Noah Lolesio missed to somehow put them 20-18 up at half-time and leave the Twickenham crowd scratching their collective heads in bewilderment.

Australia started the second half strongly and lock Jeremy Williams produced an acrobatic winger-style finish to land in the corner for their third try.

England had gone from 12 points up to 10 down either side of half-time but, unlike in most of their recent matches, they kept pressing and found the necessary goals.

They closed the gap with a first international try for replacement flanker Ollie Sleightholme after a deft rip from Smith.

They then went ahead with Sleightholme’s second try after a quick lineout and run from the impressive Lawrence, with Smith converting to make the score 30-28 with 10 minutes remaining.

A failed pass on halfway was picked up by Australian winger Andrew Kellaway, who ran clear, with Ben Donaldson converting for a two-point lead.

However, England hit back, Itoje reaching level and Smith converted and the crowd celebrated what they thought was a victory.

Australia, however, refused to stand still, moving forward with a series of scrums with the clock on red and then breaking clear when Len Ikitau offloaded brilliantly for replacement Jorgensen to run clear and dive happily over the line.

England will face world champions South Africa at Twickenham next Saturday, while Australia will play Wales on Sunday. REUTERS