Joe Schmidt said he is "disappointed" at what he perceives to be "gamesmanship" from England in the build-up to Saturday's victory over Australia.

England saw off Australia 25-7 at the Allianz Stadium to earn an eighth-straight victory for Steve Borthwick.

A report from The Telegraph two days before the game suggested Borthwick had highlighted issues with Australia's breakdown work in his referee's meeting with Nika Amashukeli.

Schmidt, whose side conceded 13 penalties against England, was asked about that accusation after the loss in London.

"It's a bit of gamesmanship," Schmidt said. "We've had, up until [Saturday], 1,256 attacking rucks. There's two players at least in each of those. That's 2,500 ruck entries.

"We had one yellow card. No one has left the field injured as a result of our clean-outs. We haven't ever been excessively penalised for side entry.

"So I always find those things disappointing, but not distracting."

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Australia were penalised on six occasions in the first 20 minutes, with captain Harry Wilson and prop Taniela Tupou punished in quick succession for coming into the breakdown illegally.

However, Schmidt does not believe Borthwick's reported chat with Amashukeli had anything to do with that.

"No, I don’t think so," he said. "We'd have a look at guys with their hands down, and if it's not one thing, it could be another.

"But we'd have a fair bit of confidence in the referee. I think the referee is a very experienced referee and he just got on and refereed the game."

Harry Potter's breakaway try ensured Australia trailed by only three points at the interval, but England took control of the second half.

Henry Pollock, Alex Mitchell and Luke Cowan-Dickie all crossed over for England, who themselves conceded 13 penalties.

Asked about referee Amashukeli's performance, Borthwick told reporters, "I thought Nika did a great job in the game. He's an experienced ref who did a great job in difficult conditions."

England return to action next Saturday with a home clash against Fiji, while Australia face Italy in Udinese.