England v Wallabies, Twickenham, Sun 10th Nov 2:10AEDT / 1:10AEST

[Purce]

I'm surprised at no Skelton. He is a legit point of difference when playing well.

Kerevi must not be quite there yet.

Otherwise fine, coin flip at 10.

I'm hoping Williams continues his upwards trajectory, was quite impressed with his last couple of showings.

 

[Joe Blow]

It’s brave to throw JS in at 13 and slide Lenny in one for his first test at 12. If nothing else it will be very interesting. Hope they slay it!

No Skelton or Kerevi and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) off the bench are all unexpected

 

[Yoda]

I'm surprised at no Skelton. He is a legit point of difference when playing well.

Kerevi must not be quite there yet.

Otherwise fine, coin flip at 10.

I'm hoping Williams continues his upwards trajectory, was quite impressed with his last couple of showings.

I’m with you Purce. I thought Skelton would be straight in.. he’s only available for the first 3 Tests and he’s been playing so fit? Kerevi obviously not fit after an absence of game time. I’d definitely back Donaldson over Noah. Campese apparently does too in SMH article today. I also rate Williams who played well all year for the Force and has definitely looked good in Gold. Skelton would have just added more bulk and experience. Look, this game will be tough and I’m seeing an England victory, which obviously is expected by almost everyone. As long as we can do the simple things well and back ourselves, stranger things have happened. Always have hope! I wish young Sua'ali'i all the best and hope he blitzes them!

 

[emuarse]

It’s brave to throw JS in at 13 and slide Lenny in one for his first test at 12. If nothing else it will be very interesting. Hope they slay it!

No Skelton or Kerevi and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) off the bench are all unexpected

Well Joe Schmidt is rated as one of the best coaches in the world, and he's at all the players practice sessions, so he has his reasons. We'll see how it unfolds come Sunday morning early.

 

[Hawko]

It’s brave to throw JS in at 13 and slide Lenny in one for his first test at 12. If nothing else it will be very interesting. Hope they slay it!

No Skelton or Kerevi and LSL (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) (Lukhan Salakaia-Loto) off the bench are all unexpected

This team has been picked as a continuation of the Rugby Championship - as a team that will hopefully not lose too badly because they have developed combinations together. Instead of looking to mould the most talented players into a team that could be competitive we have gone conservative. England have three known weaknesses - front row, centres and bench. We have covered up for all three.
No Skelton is unfathomable. He's only available for three games and has to play for La Rochelle when we play Ireland. Up against the second best lock pairing in world rugby and we leave him out completely. Maybe we think this game is unwinnable and Joe is saving him for the two easiest fixtures. I say again, against the selected England pack, its unfathomable.
When you pick a captain first then you end up here. Williams, McReight and Valetini would be our three strongest starters in the backrow and would strengthen our lineout, but we can't pick them because Wilson is captain. He should be on the bench.
No Kerevi, why on earth is he in the squad. Our weakness at 12 in the RC was obvious. So, instead of Kerevi or Sua'ali'i we move our only close-to-world-class back out of position and trial Sua'ali'i at 13. Kerevi should start at 12, tell him to play till he drops and then bring Sua'ali'i on to 12 from the bench.
I hope Peitch marks Feya-Woboso, otherwise it will be one-way traffic.
Lolesio to run the game as he usually does; weakly and without any threat to the opposition.
Kailua is forced out by a charity pick. Selection for Australia has to be ruthlessly unsentimental and Kailua has out-performed Slipper when he has had the chance.
At least there's time to change my tipping margin. This will get ugly.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

England 28 Wallabies 15

Can't see how we dominate in the pack and how the back-line will be able score points. Completely new Centre pairing with neither Wingers having elite speed.

Hope I'm very wrong but I just see England accumulating points anytime they enter the Wallabies half.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Which of our players will give up the most costly escort penalty even though it's been a well publicized change in interpretation?

My bet is on Harry Wilson

 

[Pfitzy]

Kailua has out-performed Slipper when he has had the chance.

A mate of mine is brother-in-law to a former Test prop, who said "Slipper's back is stuffed. I know this because that is exactly how I looked right before I retired with injury"

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Which of our players will give up the most costly escort penalty even though it's been a well publicized change in interpretation?

My bet is on Harry Wilson

Think your'e right. They other is Gordon running back like a greyhound. Anyone that always looks to be to busy catches the eye. Noah is too calm to get caught.

A mate of mine is brother-in-law to a former Test prop. Said prop: "Slipper's back is stuffed. I know this because that is exactly how I looked right before I retired with injury"

You can see it on the bloke. He has a look of life contemplation when getting up from the ground. He hits 'The Thinker' pose before standing with no doubt a hell of a groan.

 

[Strewthcobber]

Think your'e right. They other is Gordon running back like a greyhound. Anyone that always looks to be to busy catches the eye. Noah is too calm to get caught.

Harry needs to ditch the bright red beacon headgear

 

[LeCheese]

England 28 Wallabies 15

Can't see how we dominate in the pack and how the back-line will be able score points. Completely new Centre pairing with neither Wingers having elite speed.

Hope I'm very wrong but I just see England accumulating points anytime they enter the Wallabies half.

Unfortunately I think that scoreline is very optimistic.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

I put a couple points on the Wallabies score. In reality I envisage 2 penalties and an intercept try (unconverted) 28/11

 

[Yoda]

Harry needs to ditch the bright red beacon headgear

Red headgear is under 7 stuff.. look at me! Don’t think I’ve ever seen an All Black in red head gear?

 

[Brumby Runner]

This team has been picked as a continuation of the Rugby Championship - as a team that will hopefully not lose too badly because they have developed combinations together. Instead of looking to mould the most talented players into a team that could be competitive we have gone conservative. England have three known weaknesses - front row, centres and bench. We have covered up for all three.
No Skelton is unfathomable. He's only available for three games and has to play for La Rochelle when we play Ireland. Up against the second best lock pairing in world rugby and we leave him out completely. Maybe we think this game is unwinnable and Joe is saving him for the two easiest fixtures. I say again, against the selected England pack, its unfathomable.
When you pick a captain first then you end up here. Williams, McReight and Valetini would be our three strongest starters in the backrow and would strengthen our lineout, but we can't pick them because Wilson is captain. He should be on the bench.
No Kerevi, why on earth is he in the squad. Our weakness at 12 in the RC was obvious. So, instead of Kerevi or Sua'ali'i we move our only close-to-world-class back out of position and trial Sua'ali'i at 13. Kerevi should start at 12, tell him to play till he drops and then bring Sua'ali'i on to 12 from the bench.
I hope Peitch marks Feya-Woboso, otherwise it will be one-way traffic.
Lolesio to run the game as he usually does; weakly and without any threat to the opposition.
Kailua is forced out by a charity pick. Selection for Australia has to be ruthlessly unsentimental and Kailua has out-performed Slipper when he has had the chance.
At least there's time to change my tipping margin. This will get ugly.

Agree with everything you've said here Hawko. I am disappointed. But hopeful I will be proved wrong.

 

[LeCheese]

I put a couple points on the Wallabies score. In reality I envisage 2 penalties and an intercept try (unconverted) 28/11

I believe 40-16 (‘19 RWC) is our worst ever loss to England. I don’t think that being eclipsed is off the cards

 

[Derpus]

Yeah that is a kind of meh team hey. Oh well. You all need to remember that we do suck quite very badly. Kerevi and Skelton have been unable to save us from that in the past.

 

[Dctarget]

Skelton had less than a week of preparation hence his non-inclusion according to Schmidt.

 

[drewprint]

Pretty underwhelming starting 15, but as others have said maybe it’s just backing consistency and cohesion. Our bench is strong though, it’d be nice if we can stay in the fight and then push ahead with late bench impact. Which seems to be an area where England have consistently hurt us in the past.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

Skelton had less than a week of preparation hence his non-inclusion according to Schmidt.

AAAANND starting at Outside Centre with no games of Rugby since year 11 at High School......JOSEPH SUA'ALI'I

Betting odds are pretty kind on the Wallabies given it's the 9th ranked team in the world at Twiks.

 

[Dctarget]

Pretty underwhelming starting 15, but as others have said maybe it’s just backing consistency and cohesion. Our bench is strong though, it’d be nice if we can stay in the fight and then push ahead with late bench impact. Which seems to be an area where England have consistently hurt us in the past.

Yeah only one change from the last game's XV.

We have added a couple players through the year: Fraser is back, as is Paenga-Amosa.

Hopefully the lads have been practicing their defensive patterns.