Preview: England v Australia

-
0

Loading

It is all on the line on Saturday in Oita, win or go home for both England and Australia, and neither side are going to die wondering.

Startling team selections have dominated the agenda for the latest edition of an age-old rivalry.

These two old Randwick teammates Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika have been killing each other with kindness this week in public.

But behind closed doors you can be sure they have been ruthlessly plotting the other’s demise.

Jones has had the wood on his old mate in recent times, winning six from six over the Wallabies since taking over the Red Rose.

And this week he has gone back to his tried and tested for the biggest game of his tenure, skipper Owen Farrell returns to the No.10 shirt and the in-form George Ford slides to the bench.

That reunites Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade in midfield, the combination that looked so impressive in this year’s Guinness Six Nations.

But the big calls do not stop there, Mako Vunipola – with less than an hour’s rugby under his belt since May – returns to start in the front row and Courtney Lawes replaces George Kruis in the second.

Australia meanwhile have put their faith in a 19-year-old Test rookie who only made his Wallaby bow two weeks ago in the pool stages.

Jordan Petaia is a star on the rise, but something of a selection punt from Cheika while his ever-changing cast of half-backs sees Will Genia and Christian Leali’ifano come together for only the second time in their Test careers.

There is intrigue wherever you look, not least the back-row battle between the hardened veterans of Michael Hooper and David Pocock against the rising stars of Sam Underhill and Tom Curry.

England’s impressive form through the pool stages and their fine recent record over the Wallabies will mean they start as favourites on Saturday afternoon.

But Australia are a tournament team, capable of the sublime when the mood takes them as the All Blacks found out to their cost in Perth back in August.

England v Australia, World Cup quarter-final, Oita, Saturday October 19, Kick Off at 8:15AM (BST)

What they said

Eddie Jones on his 6-0 winning record against Australia since taking over with England:

“The great thing about the World Cup is that each game is a game in itself so whatever you’ve done in the past doesn’t really effect what you are going to do on Saturday.

“We know about Australia, they are a great tournament side. I think ‘Cheik’ (Australia coach Michael Cheika) has done a really good job. I’m proud of the job he does. He’s a good old mate of mine and there will be a bloke in the sky (the late Jeff Sayle of Randwick) who will be quite excited about Michael and I coaching against each other this week. I’m sure he’s having a few beers next to St Peter now looking at the situation.

“They are a clever team. They play good rugby, they’ve improved their scrum and lineout over the last six to 12 months considerably and that makes them more difficult to beat.”

Jones on his ‘Kamikaze kids’ Sam Underhill and Tom Curry facing David Pocock and Michael Hooper:

“It’s going to be a great contest. Pocock has probably, over the last 10 years, been the foremost number seven in the world.

“Hooper is a massively important player for Australia. He’s a link player, takes the ball forward a lot once they get inside the opposition’s 22. He’s obviously a key leader for the team but our two young boys are just getting better every game.

“Curry has improved his lineout jumping immensely over the last six or eight weeks, Underhill’s probably the most combative seven (openside flanker) I’ve seen for a long time. It’s just going to be a battle at the breakdown which it always is between the six and seven.”

Australian playmaker Matt Toomua on sharing his knowledge of his former teammates at English club Leicester Tigers:

“I know all their weaknesses luckily and I have been telling everyone. I will list them now for you if you want. Manu (Tuilagi) is a terrible snooker player, George Ford never pays for a beer, Ben Youngs isn’t even the best rugby player in his family, let alone the country. The chicken, Jonny May, very weird and Dan Cole doesn’t have a personality.

Key battle – Jordan Petaia v Henry Slade

Aged just 19 years 218 days on Saturday, Jordan Petaia becomes the second youngest player ever to appear in a Rugby World Cup knockout match.

After a cameo off the bench and a start on the wing in the pool stages, Cheika has picked his biggest game to thrust the Queensland Red into his preferred position of outside centre.

Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Henry Slade started four of this year’s Guinness Six Nations games together (Inpho)

Up against him is another man with the spotlight on him.

Henry Slade has not started a rugby match since the Premiership final back in June after an injury disrupted warm-up campaign.

Two supremely gifted all-round footballers go head to head, both will be looking to profit from the space created by the monstrous figures of Samu Kerevi and Manu Tuilagi inside them.

Match Notes

  • This will be a replay of the Rugby World Cup finals of 1991 (first title Australia) and 2003 (only title England).
  • These teams will meet for the seventh time at the World Cup. Both teams have won three of the previous six encounters.
  • England have won each of their past six test encounters with Australia, the longest winning-streak between these two teams. England have also won eight of their last nine against the Wallabies. Australia last defeated England in the last World Cup encounter between these teams. On 3 October 2015, Australia won 33-13 in the pool phase. England were eliminated from contention because of it.
  • After the 1991 final, England won all three knockout matches against Australia: the 1995 and 2007 quarterfinals and the final in 2003.
    England have lost their last two knockout stage matches at the Rugby World Cup.
  • Jonny May wins his 50th cap. He has played Australia on five previous occasions, winning four times but finishing on the losing side for the Rugby World Cup 2015 match between the teams

Teams

England: 15 Elliot Daly; 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Jonny May; 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler; 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes; 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Billy Vunipola

Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 George Kruis, 20 Lewis Ludlam, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 George Ford, 23 Jonathan Joseph

Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Reece Hodge, 13 Jordan Petaia, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Christian Lealiifano, 9 Will Genia; 1 Scott Sio, 2 Tolu Latu, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Izack Rodda, 5 Rory Arnold, 6 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 8 Isa Naisarani

Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 James Slipper, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 21 Nic White, 22 Matt To’omua, 23 James O’Connor

The post Preview: England v Australia appeared first on Six Nations Rugby.

Source: 6 Nations

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.