[2015 RWC] Pool A: England vs. Australia (03/10/2015)

[TRF_heineken]

Twickenham, London (03/10/2015, 20:00)
Pool A, Round 3
Referee: Romain Poite

 

[Redcatstorm]

Not sure, it's panic stations for England now they lose this its all over.

Australia also can't afford to split wins with Wales and England due to not getting the bonus against Fiji.

Pressure on both teams, I do believe Aus will lose this one but will beat Wales.

 

[jflintoff]

I have a feeling Australia will capitalize on the pressure England are under and pull something special out of the bag. Foley definitely needs to start with Cooper bringing an impact (if on form) at 60 minutes.

 

[Redcatstorm]

Also please God don't play Phipps.

 

[ncurd]

England selection is key the tight game is probably better suited to us on this one (Poite will make it one regardless, god that man is in love with his whistle). Sure we'll get destroyed at the breakdown but player like Falou worry me far more.

So pretty much as you were for the England side, slot Joseph back in if fit I'd drop Barritt but Lancaster will drop Burgess. Forwards possibly Launchers for Lawes but definitely Mako for Marler (don't think he'll get away with that angle twice). I'd prefer it if we went all guns blazing in this one but frankly I don't see it happening and rather we didn't chop and change everything again in case we actually do pull it off.

Think we can win this one but rather the pressure was off with a Fiji win.

 

[TommiG88]

It's a strange feeling, in this moment in time I am actually more confident for this game than I was for the Wales one.

 

[RoosTah]

I really don't know what to expect from this game. The Wallabies have shown serious improvement in their scrum this year and also put on some pretty slick moves over the RC and games since, but at the same time we just don't have a world class goal kicker, our line out has been inconsistent and our halves are far from settled.

The pressure is all on England, so to a certain extent the result will be determined on how well they respond to that. My feeling is that England are pretty rattled at this point, and for all the seeming calm Lancaster projects, things are less settled in camp. We keep hearing murmers in the NRL columns here about how Burgess feels unhappy and unwelcome in the England set up and there being a lot of resentment toward him.

If that's true, then it doesn't bode well for team cohesion and will just be another hurdle for England to over come.

 

[Hulkster]

If Robshaw suffered a tournament ending injury in training today (which I would not wish on anyone), would that be sufficient 'exceptional circumstances' to call up Armitage, and would England's prospects worsen or improve as a result?

 

[wayevs]

My only concern for Australia is quade cooper , in a right game how many points will he squander , with Farrell England have a world class kicker , I think the wallabies are gonna have to win this by superior breakdown skills hopefully turn a lot of ball over , well here's hoping.

 

[first5eight]

The WC does strange things. I think this could be one of the only times when the bulk of NZ will be supporting the Aussies.

I'm picking the Wallabies by 7-12pts in this one. I think the wallabies have shown enough up front at set piece time this year to suggest they'll at least get parity at scrums and lineouts and a decent platform to work from. From there that's where Pocock & Hooper will come to the fore. They'll both boss the breakdown and I reckon they'll get enough quick ball to catch England on the break with Folau, Giteau, Beale & Cooper closing out the win late in the 2nd half.

 

[ncurd]

If Robshaw suffered a tournament ending injury in training today (which I would not wish on anyone), would that be sufficient 'exceptional circumstances' to call up Armitage, and would England's prospects worsen or improve as a result?

Worsen regardless of most other criticism's Robshaw is clearly the leader of this group. Plus his work rate is huge, what we'd need to get Armitage to actually improve the situation is colossal injury crisis in the blindside flanker position.

Armitage joining mid-tournament in a way which nobody has practiced all summer will just make things worse rather than better.



I've been doing some Maths and the Fiji/Wales game matters less than I thought. Taking the relatively safe assumption England will get a BP victory against Uruguay, England just need to come out of this game with 4 more group points than Aus. Aus will then be unable to overhaul England on points thus England will qualify. Means Aus failure to get the BP against Fiji really does effect the overall result.

 

[OneFansOpinion]

My only concern for Australia is quade cooper , in a right game how many points will he squander , with Farrell England have a world class kicker , I think the wallabies are gonna have to win this by superior breakdown skills hopefully turn a lot of ball over , well here's hoping.

Would it be ok if we loaned them Biggar? Provided they guarantee to return him in the condition he was when they received him.

I really don't see anything other than an Aus win here. I just think they have too much behind

 

[HowieLO6]

From those of you with a finer understanding of the dark arts of the breakdown, whats the plan for dealing with Hopper and Po'ock? (Not a typo, just not sure about the language filter on here...)

 

[Peat]

From those of you with a finer understanding of the dark arts of the breakdown, whats the plan for dealing with Hopper and Po'ock? (Not a typo, just not sure about the language filter on here...)

Pocock's fine.

I would start with anti-tank weapons.

Slightly less blase, but there has to be someone at every ruck before Pocock in a good position. I honestly wouldn't know where to begin instructing this current England squad on how to deal with him.

 

[jflintoff]

The WC does strange things. I think this could be one of the only times when the bulk of NZ will be supporting the Aussies.

Amen Brother!!!!!

 

[ncurd]

Cricket ball slipped under the foot during rugby practice....it's worked before

 

[HowieLO6]

Pocock's fine.

I would start with anti-tank weapons.

Slightly less blase, but there has to be someone at every ruck before Pocock in a good position. I honestly wouldn't know where to begin instructing this current England squad on how to deal with him.

I feared as much. Hard not to admire the Australian approach in so far as getting them both on the field, and in such a way that seemingly works too. The fact that Pocock is a good egg doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

So, we're 0-1 on finding a solution. Any other ideas here gents?

 

[HaydnH]

I've been doing some Maths and the Fiji/Wales game matters less than I thought. Taking the relatively safe assumption England will get a BP victory against Uruguay, England just need to come out of this game with 4 more group points than Aus. Aus will then be unable to overhaul England on points thus England will qualify. Means Aus failure to get the BP against Fiji really does effect the overall result.

So England just have to beat Oz by more than 7 and make sure Oz don't get 4 tries? I see what you mean, that'll be a walk in the park.

 

[ncurd]

So England just have to beat Oz by more than 7 and make sure Oz don't get 4 tries? I see what you mean, that'll be a walk in the park.

Well England could score 4 try's themselves (likely if Oz do and Eng win) and then just have to win by 8 or more (it's not 7 or more) OR don't let them score 4 try's.

Anyway the point wasn't "hey lads this easy" the point was "hey lads were still not reliant on other game results going our way".

- - - Updated - - -

Most likely scenario is a victory by 8+ points with no try BP's.

Still think Aus will win though.

 

[jflintoff]

Well England could score 4 try's themselves (likely if Oz do and Eng win) and then just have to win by 8 or more (it's not 7 or more) OR don't let them score 4 try's.

Anyway the point wasn't "hey lads this easy" the point was "hey lads were still not reliant on other game results going our way".

Or Aus could trounce Eng