England 25-7 Australia: Henry Pollock lights up Twickenham with bright blonde explosion as Steve Borthwick shows no mercy to visitors - and they have done no harm in their mission to become top seeds at the World Cup

Ask any of Henry Pollock’s team-mates about his new peroxide hairstyle and they will tell you he dyed it because he was not getting enough attention.

The little rat-tail that he brought back from Australia went unnoticed and Pollock - the brash, noisy 20-year-old – wanted to wrestle back the spotlight.

His plan worked to perfection. Pollock came off the bench with England’s bomb squad to light up a grey night at Twickenham with a bright blonde explosion.

Steve Borthwick has been working out how to see out the final quarter of tight Test matches and the six Lions on his bench showed no mercy to the Wallabies.

With 50 minutes on the clock, caught in the slow grind of Test rugby, England’s replacement forwards bounced around on the touchline like a pack of caged animals.

Ellis Genge snarled, Luke Cowan-Dickie looked locked-and-loaded and Pollock bounced around like a student who had just drank a dozen cans of Red Bull.

They choked Australia out of the game with their power and intensity, with Tom Curry throwing his body into the spokes and Will Stuart powering up the set-piece to carry England home.

There was always a theory that England would have too much power for a Wallabies team missing Will Skelton and Len Ikitau. England reinforced the notion that they have world class stocks of back-five forwards as they secured a victory that will do no harm in their mission to become top seeds at the World Cup.

Tom Roebuck dominated the skies, chasing Alex Mitchell’s box kicks relentlessly. England won this game and they won it relatively easily. They should dispatch Fiji next week but the test is whether they can sharpen up their attacking play to take on the All Blacks. Big questions remain about their best backline.

The midfield proved to be England’s sticking point. They are still lacking a world class centre partnership, with Fraser Dingwall failing to seize his opportunities and Tommy Freeman faces an almighty challenge if he is going to become an all-conquering No13 in time for the 2027 World Cup. Ollie Lawrence will feel hard done by if he is not given a recall.

It is 12 months since Joseph Suaalii announced himself on the big stage here at Twickenham. On debut, he caught England surprise on the kick-offs, leaping above opponents like an NBA basketballer. Nobody in the English ranks can match the height he reaches on his jump and the Wallabies attempted to bring him into the game from the start.

He fumbled his chase from the kick-off and it was England who planted their flag. During the week, Borthwick highlighted dozens of illegal Australian breakdown entries to referee Nika Amashukeli. If there was any attempt at skullduggery by leaking the details into the media, then it paid off as the Wallabies were penalised for that exact offence twice in five minutes.

England were granted easy access into the Wallaby 22 but their attack stalled in the opening quarter. Joe Heyes was held up over the line and Tommy Freeman did not look like a natural distributor in the No13 jersey. He was turned over but after 20 minutes George Ford kicked the opening points.

Moments later, England’s kicking game paid off. Mitchell launched a box kick onto Suaalii which was claimed by Roebuck. England’s pack arrived in a coordinated support plan, with Sam Underhill quickly transferring the ball to Ben Earl. Earl has been touted as a potential Test centre and the No8 showed the speed of a back as he sprinted clear to score. If Borthwick is serious about playing Earl in the midfield then next week’s Test against Fiji could be the time to do it.

England’s goal-line defence was strong. Sam Underhill was as committed as ever, with blood streaming down his face as they repelled Australia’s set piece. The Wallabies were reduced to one long-range score, with Harry Potter running the length of the pitch after intercepting Dingwall’s pass.

At the market stalls on Whitton Road, the traders were selling scarves bearing the name of Marcus Smith. The great entertainer of West London was left out of the matchday squad altogether, with Ford calling the shots at No 10 and Fin Smith providing the back-up.

Fin Smith did not get the chance to take off his tracksuit, with Ford entrusted to bring the victory home. As England’s backline struggled to spark on a soggy night, it still seems like there is a compelling case for Marcus Smith to feature somewhere in the matchday 23.

But England’s forward pack did enough to secure this much-welcome victory to launch the autumn series. Pollock scored his third try in his two Tests when he skilfully gathered Roebuck’s tap-back, riding out Andrew Kellaway’s tap-tackle to score on the big screen.

Mitchell scored off the back of a driving maul, before Cowan-Dickie did the same.

With the clock in red, Pollock ended up with a yellow. The back-row was sent to the sinbin as he got under Australian skin, ensuring his night at Twickenham went by anything but quietly.