This weekend sees the Wallabies begin their End of Year Tour against the old enemy, the English. Despite a gruelling season, recent performances against Argentina and the All Blacks have created a sense of optimism and many Wallabies fans will be tuning in to see if the men in gold can build on these performances.
Twickenham is never an easy place to go, and can always throw up a result. Despite the difficulties, the location has been a relative good hunting ground for the Wallabies in the past. The previous result saw a rampaging Nick Cummins dot down in a convincing 20-14 victory last year, and the men in gold have won the last three of the four matches played at the stadium since 2008.
So what can we expect from the Poms this time around? Their last tour to Argentina was very successful, winning both games by comfortable margins. However, this tour occurred over the Lions and hence we can expect to see a very different England 15 line up on Saturday. Prior to this, they ended a promising Six Nations in disappointing fashion, being trounced by Wales and pipped at the post for the Grand Slam. The Lions tour from an English perspective wasn’t too promising either. By the final test, only two Englishmen were in the starting 15 (Corbisiero and Parling), and Corbisiero is probably the only player who could be described as having a great tour.
Suspected England team: 1. Corbisiero, 2. Youngs, 3. Cole, 4. Launchbury, 5. Parling, 6. Wood, 7. Robshaw ©, 8. Morgan, 9. Youngs, 10. Farrell, 11. Ashton, 12. Twelvetrees, 13. Tuilagi, 14. Yarde, 15. Foden
Key matchups:
Yarde vs Tomane
It seems strange that the English are placing so much of their hope in the hands of young Marland Yarde, but this is an indication of the talents of the boy. With just one cap to his name, Yarde is an old school winger. He’s very, very quick, surprisingly strong on the ball despite his size, and isn’t likely to attempt to kick too often. If you haven’t had a chance to see him yet, put him into youtube. He’s a very dangerous player.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpCAf8YF2Uo
I realise that Tomane is by no means assured of the left flank but reckon following that Argentina performance he’ll probably come back in. Harsh on Betham though. And I’m worried that Yarde’s x-factor is going to expose Tomane’s fairly obvious defensive flaws. This could be a crucial battle. Joe’s going to have a very close eye on those predator-style dreadlocks.
Corbisiero/Youngs/Cole vs Alexander/Moore/Slipper
Despite the calls for the Fat Cat to return to the starting XV, it looks as if Ewen is going to persist with the front row he used during the Rugby Championship. A front row that were dominated almost across the board apart from the final match, where they gained some kind of parity against the Darkness. Alexander has decided to ally poor scrummaging with an invisibility cloak across the park, whilst Slipper has lost his usual zest.
On the contrary, Corbisiero and Youngs dismantled the Wallabies front row in the Lions and Cole is no mug either. This is surely going to be an area England are going to look to dominate. Me thinks we could be watching some Wallabies munching on some Twickenham mud on Saturday.
Newsflash – Corbisiero has been today ruled out the match with a knee injury. Mako Vunipola and Joe Marler are the replacements.
Robshaw vs Hooper
These two really are chalk and cheese when it comes to their opposing styles on a rugby pitch. There was much debate in the UK over who should take on the captaincy between Wood, who captained from 6 in the Argentina tour, or Robshaw, who’s last game was the humiliating defeat by Wales. The emergence of Gloucester scavenger Matt Kvesic meant many felt Robshaw’s form did not even warrant a spot in the 15. Yet Lancaster has kept the faith, and we now get to see the big man line up against the considerable different Hooper.
Robshaw is by no means a traditional 7. He’s not quick or deft enough on the floor to be a top scavenger, however what you can guarantee from Robshaw is 80 minutes of hitting ruck after ruck, and making all his dominant tackles. Despite this, I see this area as a real opportunity for the Wallabies to grab the ascendancy. Whilst Robshaw will be more than ably backed up by Tom Wood and either Billy Vunipola or Ben Morgan, if Hooper can get some early momentum we could finally see some Wallaby wins at the breakdowns.
[To be fair to Luke the original was published prematurely – Ed.]
