Rugby Test: Australia v England

15.11.2008
Australia v England at Twickenham

Preview
There was a time when a clash between these two would have been a clash between the two best rugby nations. Sadly, both teams have slipped in their ratings since they clashed at the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup. England won this famous match with a Jonny Wilkinson dropped goal in the last minutes of the match. They also played a quarter final match at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, another close match finally won by England, putting Australia out of the finals.

Both teams have a lot to play for. Both teams are struggling at the top level of the game and this week has seen plenty of gamesmanship between the teams especially over their respective forward packs. England once had a pack that could easily crush the Wallabies but tomorrow things could be different.

Last Five Encounters
06.10.2007 England 12-10 in Marseilles (World Cup, Quarter final)
17.06.2006 Australia 34-18 in Melbourne (Cook Cup)
11.06.2006 Australia 34-3 in Sydney (Cook Cup)
12.11.2005 England 26-16 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
27.11.2004 Australia 21-19 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)

GWC Rugby Rankings: Australia 3rd, England 5th

Prediction: Australia by 7 points

Teams

England: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Paul Sackey, 13 Jamie Noon, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Tom Rees, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Steve Borthwick, 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan. Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Matt Stevens, 18 Simon Shaw, 19 James Haskell, 20 Michael Lipman, 21 Harry Ellis, 22 Toby Flood

Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 George Smith, 6 Hugh McMeniman, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Mark Chisholm, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson. Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Wycliff Palu, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Quade Cooper, 22 Digby Ioane.

Thanks to http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0,18259,3551_4497100,00.html

I regret that time restrictions will result in limited coverage