Former England halfback Ben Youngs has been forced to eat his words after the Wallabies put on a stunning display to knock-over England at home for their first win at Twickenham since the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
One of the leading critics of the Wallabies over the last two months, Youngs hasn't held back in his scathing remarks calling on the British and Irish Lions tour next year to be moved to South Africa following the Wallabies horrific 67-27 battering to Argentina earlier this year, before he took another crack just last week.
Speaking on his podcast For the Love of Rugby alongside his co-host and England prop Dan Cole, Youngs proclaimed "Australia, don't waste my time.
"Joe Schmidt, he will have a couple of clever plays, it wouldn't surprise me if Australia score a couple of nice tries, but other than that... I don't want to say it."
There were more than just a "couple of nice tries" from the Wallabies, with the men in gold crashing over the whitewash five times, twice within the final 10-minutes, with the 42-37 win marking the most points they've ever scored at the ground.
Showing some humility post-match Youngs posted a photo alongside Wallabies' Samu Kerevi and Will Skelton on his Instagram, with the caption "Some humble pie for me, congratulations Wallabies you played a blinder. Lucky for me Will Skelton and Samu Kerevi are gents so went easy on me."
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald after the match, Youngs complimented the Wallabies, labelling the Australia-England fixtures as some of his favourite through his career.
"It was a great Test match. Australia played an absolute blinder and good on them," Youngs said.
"Some of my fondest memories have actually been England-Australia fixtures. The rivalry has always been terrific. Look, I am still learning how to be a good podcaster and not put my foot in it.
"I commend Australia, genuinely. When I made those comments trying to stoke the fire, it was off the back of the Argentinian result. But it just shows what great coaching can do, they've turned it around.
"What's scary is I saw Samu Kerevi and Will Skelton after the game and they're two of the best players in the world, and they weren't even playing."
His earlier comments clearly didn't go unnoticed by the playing group with Youngs directly called out by Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, while back-row Fraser McReight was a little more subtle.
"What's his name, Ben Youngs?" Salakaia-Loto is heard saying as he walks through the post-match player tunnel.
Thank you, @wallabies 🤝@O2 | #WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/9mSuI5bYcX
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 9, 2024
"There has been a lot of negatively from English rugby to Australia rugby recently and for us to be able to win and see our effort and what we have been putting in," McReight said after the match.
"It's always great to shut up critics right?"
The Wallabies next head to Cardiff to face Wales, who went down to Fiji overnight, for their second Autumn Nations Series clash.