RWC: AUS v ENG (Twickenham): POOL A; 6am (AEDT) Sunday 4 October

[jollyswagman]

If there ever a game where we would want to get ahead on the scoreboard early then this would be it. The added pressure of having to chase Australia on the scoreboard might be the proverbial straw that sees them shit the bed. Add to that, I am going to enjoy the game a heck of lot more if we get out to 12 point lead early and maintain that for the last 60 minutes. If England get their nose in front in the first half it will give them enough belief to ride the massive crowd home.

 

[wamberal]

I don't think it matters all that much, we are fitter than them.

 

[Rugbynutter39]

I agree with franklind, re wales doing us a massive disservice.

As awesome and funny as it would be to see england knocked out of their own world cup before the quarters would be, one would think they would have the requisite fire in the belly from the now dire situation and ref helping to get them across the line.

Hopefully they fall in a massive heap and we win.

Should we win, I think it would be massive for australias confidence to kick on and do some real damage from effectively knocking the host side out of the world cup to potentially go on and win the thing.

I personally am nervous about england game as they have had the wood on us in recent years.....and if we lose against england we could be in real trouble.....

 

[Cardiffblue]

If England have to select their best team in an attempt to stay alive in the RWC Cheika's choice of two teams may prove to be a master-stroke. Although I doubt very much we'll see the same players in the 10 and 12 white jumpers come next Sunday.

Farrell will play

 

[Cardiffblue]

I don't think it matters all that much, we are fitter than them.

not sure about that, I wouldn't be relying on it

 

[Cardiffblue]

The reality is that Wales have not done Australia any favors at all. As much as we love seeing England go down, they are going to be a heck of a lot harder to beat next weekend. Having attended matches at pretty much every major international rugby fortress over the years, I can say that a full house @ Twickenham makes the pressure of Eden Park look and sound like a subbies sunday touch match.

Soz

 

[Cardiffblue]

Wales did the Wallabies a massive disservice by beating England.

A desperate England, home ground advantage - I can't see the Wallabies winning this.

Bonus points will really matter because I also think the Wallabies will beat Wales.

Will have to try to be more obliging lol

 

[Quick Hands]

Who's the ref'?

Is it Poite?

Yes

 

[The Snout]

If there ever a game where we would want to get ahead on the scoreboard early then this would be it. The added pressure of having to chase Australia on the scoreboard might be the proverbial straw that sees them shit the bed.

I'd go as far to suggest that if England aren't leading by 7+ in the 60th minute Australia will win.
And even if they are 7+ ahead it will be hang on Rugby from there out. They will be scared shitless of a Wales collapse II.

 

[Quick Hands]

Match Officials for England v Australia

Ref: Romain Poite (FFR)

AR1: George Clancy (IRFU)

AR2: Marius Mitrea (FIR)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SARU)

 

[fatprop]

Match Officials for England v Australia

Ref: Romain Pointe (FFR)

AR1: George Clancy (IRFU)

AR2: Marius Mitrea (FIR)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SARU)

Pointe with Veldsman in his ear, does not bode well

 

[Quick Hands]

Pointe with Veldsman in his ear, does not bode well

With Clancy bring his special brand of incompetance to the show.

I can only hope that Veldsman can highlight the illegal scrummaging to Poite. He seems to like to involved himself and he does have access to the overhead shot.

 

[No4918]

I agree with franklind, re wales doing us a massive disservice.

As awesome and funny as it would be to see england knocked out of their own world cup before the quarters would be, one would think they would have the requisite fire in the belly from the now dire situation and ref helping to get them across the line.

Hopefully they fall in a massive heap and we win.

Should we win, I think it would be massive for australias confidence to kick on and do some real damage from effectively knocking the host side out of the world cup to potentially go on and win the thing.

I have been waiting since 2003 to get our revenge. Hopefully we win by a drop goal.

 

[The Snout]

Match Officials for England v Australia

Ref: Romain Poite (FFR)

AR1: George Clancy (IRFU)

AR2: Marius Mitrea (FIR)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SARU)

Well if you can't get your hands on Dulux, White Knight will have to do.

 

[shanky]

Farrell will play. They won't risk going against their strengths.

He can't go more than 2 phases without kicking it, it's a habit he's got into.

This means lots of out-of-hand kicking to what they hope is behind the defence.

I think this is key to a successful Wallaby game plan. Put our 2 most reliable wingers out there and go for a fast, across-field sweeping counter-attack.

England's big boppers in midfield are going to have trouble adjusting and getting across in time. There's tries in there for sure.

 

[KOB1987]

If there ever a game where we would want to get ahead on the scoreboard early then this would be it. The added pressure of having to chase Australia on the scoreboard might be the proverbial straw that sees them shit the bed. Add to that, I am going to enjoy the game a heck of lot more if we get out to 12 point lead early and maintain that for the last 60 minutes. If England get their nose in front in the first half it will give them enough belief to ride the massive crowd home.

I've been saying all along that I believe our RWC strategy is to get a lead and then defend it. That said, remember during the RC that our best stanza of play for all games (including Eden Park) was the final 20 minutes when the bench came on. So it could be to get a lead, consolidate it, and then bring the benchies on to try to run away with it. We can't use the first 2 pool games as a guide of this because the use of the bench was intentionally conservative.

So in summary, I agree with you!

 

[Braveheart81]

The centre pairing England goes for will certainly be interesting.

Do they go with Burgess and Barritt again? The amount of criticism they have copped suggests probably not.

Does Barritt move back to 12 and Henry Slade come in at 13?

Does Burgess retain the 12 jersey and Slade comes in at 13?

If Tom Wood gets injured will Burgess move to 6 and Barritt and Slade combine in the centres.

This is of course assuming Jonathan Joseph is still injured. That seems almost certain.

I certainly can't see them playing Farrell at 10 and Ford at 12 which is how they finished the game against Wales.

 

[Cardiffblue]

Match Officials for England v Australia

Ref: Romain Poite (FFR)

AR1: George Clancy (IRFU)

AR2: Marius Mitrea (FIR)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SARU)

dunno about the last two but Clancy and Poite are the double act from Hell

 

[Gnostic]

The scrum is a concern too. Not because I don't rate our scrum (which is probably the best it's ever been), I just don't trust Poite or the English. The French ref last night blew several penalties against the Wallabies at the scrum despite the fact that they clearly had complete dominance from start to finish. In the second half they deployed some tricks on turning the scrum and the ref gave them the benefits of the doubt. I have no faith that we'll get a fair go on Sunday.

What I have been saying for the last few months. Not only were the Wallabies penalised with the Uruguayan LH boring in and up, this is exactly how the English got dominance early over the Welsh. The first and second scrums clearly showed Marler at 65 degrees to his front row team mates who drove straight through the welsh as they no longer had a THP. This is exactly what got the Wallabies penalised off the park last year. Now the Welsh eventually realised that the referee wasn't going to call Marler (obviously they know he will get away with it) and practiced a quick strike and clearance. The Wallabies haven't shown that they can achieve that quick clearance. Indeed they seem to want to go the other and win the battle, which is commendable but unwise if the opposition is not going to be held to the rules, which I have no doubt the Wallabies will be even a hint of weakness will see them penalised.

 

[Braveheart81]

Presumably the Wallabies will speak to Poite before the match and request that he pays particular attention to the English LHP and the angle at which he scrums. If they can convince Poite to go to that side of the scrum then hopefully we can get a good feed/hook on our first scrum and win the ball quickly.

The two scenarios we want to avoid are an initial scrum similar to the Fiji game where the feed is too straight to be hooked or Genia tries to feed it too favourably on our side and gives away a short arm for a crooked feed. You'd then imagine he'd be scrutinised heavily through the match.

Hopefully we get those first few scrums absolutely right. I think our scrum is strong and shouldn't be a liability in this match. The issue with Poite is that if he gets an impression that it is a liability from the beginning, he's unlikely to change and it will really cost us.

We've got to take it to England in the forwards both in general play and set piece. I think we've got a real opportunity to outplay the English pack and I feel that is where we can win the game.