ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA: Rugby World Cup, Pool A

03.10.2015

Image thanks to www.englandrugby.com

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Pool Standings

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
WALES	3	3	0	0	105	47	58	11	2	1	13
AUSTRALIA	2	2	0	0	93	16	77	14	1	1	9
ENGLAND	2	1	0	1	60	39	21	5	2	2	6
FIJI	3	0	0	3	37	86	-49	3	9	0	0
URUGUAY	2	0	0	2	12	119	-107	0	19	0	0

Preview
It doesn’t get better than this. Probably the most crucial pool match of this World Cup and certainly the most important to this date. A loss by England would be catastrophic as it would almost certainly eliminate them from the quarter finals. If that happens it would be the first time at a Rugby World Cup tournament that the host nations has not reached the quarter finals.Heads could roll!

A win to Australia would bring them to at least level with Wales on the points table and set up a vital pool clash on the 10th October. The Aussies have been the improving team among the top nations in world rugby. They won the Rugby Championship for the first time, including win over New Zealand. This is a vastly improved side from a year ago.

Twickenham will be all noise but the English fans will also be holding their breath and crossing everything they can find.

Last Five Encounters
29.11.2014 England 26-17 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
02.11.2013 England 20-13 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
17.11.2012 Australia 20-14 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
13.11.2010 England 35-18 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
19.06.2010 England 21-20 in Sydney (Cook Cup)

England has dominated Australia at test level in recent times.

Previous World Cups
06.10.2007 England 12-10 in Marseilles (World Cup,quarter final)
22.11.2003 England 20-17 in Sydney (World Cup, Final)
11.06.1995 England 25-22 in Capetown (World Cup, Quarter final)
02.11.1991 Australia 12-6 at Twickenham (World Cup, Final)
23.05.1987 Australia 19-6 in Sydney (World Cup)

These two teams have a long history at World Cup tournaments with England holding an edge.

Australia Last Five P 5, W 4, L 1
27.09.2015 v Uruguay W 65-3 in Birmingham (World Cup, Pool A)
23.09.2015 v Fiji W 28-13 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool A)
05.09.2015 v United States W 47-10 in Chicago
15.08.2015 v New Zealand L 13-41 in Auckland (Bledisloe Cup)
08.08.2015 v New Zealand W 27-19 in Sydney (Rugby Champ., Bledisloe Cup)

England Last Five P 5, W 3, L 2
26.09.2015 v Wales L 25-28 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
18.09.2015 v Fiji W 35-11 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
05.09.2015 v Ireland W 21-13 at Twickenham (World Cup Warm Up)
22.08.2015 v France L 20-25 in Paris (World Cup Warm Up)
15.08.2015 v France W 19-15 at Twickenham (World Cup Warm Up)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table: England 2nd, Australia 6th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Australia 86.75, England 82.35

Prediction: Almost too close to call. Australia by 1 point. Score 27-26

TEAMS

England
15 Michael Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 Jonathan May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Benjamin Youngs, 8 Benjamin Morgan, 7 Christopher Robshaw (Capt.), 6 Thomas Wood, 5 Geoffrey Parling,
4 Joseph Launchbury, 3 Daniel Cole, 2 Thomas Youngs, 1 Joseph Marler
Replacements
16 Robert Webber, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 George Kruis,
20 Nicholas Easter, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 George Ford, 23 Samuel Burgess
Head Coach: Stuart Lancaster

Australia
15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matthew Giteau, 11 Robert Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 William Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Robert Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas,
3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (Capt.), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Gregory Holmes, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Benjamin McCalman, 21 Nicholas Phipps, 22 Matthew Toomua, 
23 Kurtley Beale
Head Coach: Michael Cheika