Honeymoon over for Cheika as England make history with first series victory over Australia By Georgina Robinson The Wallabies' Dylan Haylett-Petty is tackled by England's Jonathon Joseph and, inset, the AAMI Park turf crumbled under heavy pressure.
Photos: Getty Images The honeymoon is over for Michael Cheika. It turns out the Australian wunder-coach and Randwick enfant terrible, is human after all, as Eddie Jones' England secured a historic first series win against the Wallabies and bumped them down to third place in the world rankings with an emphatic, spiteful 23-7 second Test victory in Melbourne on Saturday. 
It was bound to happen after as good a year in Australian rugby as anyone could remember, and despite the pain of losing to the old enemy on home soil, there was little to do but wipe your brow and applaud.
This Test had everything, including a record crowd for any code at AAMI Park - 29,871 stood witness to a Test battle with niggle, flair, opportunism, grit and the type of defence that would make an attack coach surrender his clipboard. It was sandpit wars at times in the first half, with the AAMI Park turf churning up like sand at the mere thought of a scrum, and was generally a disgraceful platform for a Test match.
The image of Dan Coles having his jersey torn off his back during an all-in melee, while three groundsmen furiously stamped down loose mounds of turf in the background will not easily fade from memory.
And yet the rugby transcended it, showing how thrilling the game can be when two teams with passion and belief line up against each other and play as if their lives depended on it.
A 77th minute try to England No.12 Owen Farrell sealed Australia's fate but it came at the end of a battle of wills.
For much of the match the 28th minute words of referee Craig Joubert summed it up nicely: "White dominance.
Gold pulling out." Eddie Jones' brash, bad England were all over Australia for 30 frightening minutes, peppering their rivals with contestable kicks and bringing all of their bovver boy belligerence to bear on the match. All the Wallabies could do in response was get drawn in to the spite-fest, and by the 30th minute they looked as frazzled as they have ever been under Cheika, their own plans paralysed before the imperious starch of the tourists.
Then, as the Australian portion of the crowd contemplated the discomfiting prospect of looking up to the English on the rankings ladder, the Wallabies got the memo. They rose above the nastiness, found their shape and went 16 phases in attack before being pulled up short of the line. England were penalised and warned for repeated ruck infringements, and Stephen Moore, sensing it was on, directed his No.10 to kick for the corner before grounding the ball over the line in the subsequent maul.
The Wallabies celebrated as if it was extra time in a World Cup final and went again in attack. This time it took 22 phases after the half-time buzzer and the England defence held true.
The Wallabies trailed 10-7 at the break but there was hope for the second half. That is, until the second half opened with more of the same extraordinary defence from the visitors.
Australia were on the wrong end of some dubious penalty calls, but their own mistakes eclipsed any sense of injustice.
There were knock-ons, slips and stuff ups galore, so that their best efforts in attack ended up on the scrap heap.
England are back with a vengeance, thanks to the truly superior coaching of Jones. And the Wallabies are looking for answers.