England vs Australia: Four key match-ups
One of rugby’s oldest and most anticipated cross-hemisphere rivalries is set to be renewed this weekend, as Australia visit Twickenham to take on England for the 50th time.
The Wallabies currently boast 25 wins to England’s 23, but with the hosts enjoying a five-match win streak, as well as victories in nine of the last eleven encounters, the balance of power between the two sides has been shifting in England’s direction over the last eight years.
Both Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika have named their sides for Saturday’s contest and we have picked out some key battles that will be waged by the two sides and examine who has the advantage in those respective areas.
(*) RugbyPass Index scores
Ben Youngs (81) and Owen Farrell (90) vs Will Genia (85) and Matt Toomua (70)
The two half-back combinations are going to dictate where and how the game is played on Saturday and Youngs and Farrell have form on their side. Both players performed well against South Africa and New Zealand and if it were not for Farrell’s arrival from the bench at half time against Japan, who knows how that contest might have ended up?
As for Australia, they have tinkered slightly more on this tour, starting Genia and Bernard Foley against Wales, before moving Foley to inside centre against Italy in order to accommodate Toomua, and giving Jake Gordon the start at scrum-half. In neither match was the world set alight, but there was an increased control in the game against the Azzurri.
If there’s an advantage here, in terms of dictating where the game will be played and controlling the tempo of the contest, it would seem to be with England, although there is not much in it. Look for wing Joe Cokanasiga to help England win back contestable kicks and reward the accuracy of Youngs and Farrell.
Kyle Sinckler (66) and Maro Itoje (92) vs Sekope Kepu (72) and Izack Rodda (89)
These are four players who will be key at the scrum, lineout and in generating front foot-ball for their sides.
Sinckler and Itoje are two men England will lean on heavily to make up for the absences of Mako and Billy Vunipola, and they have been the hosts’ two most consistent carrying threats in the pack over the last three weeks. It’s a smaller sample size, but Rodda has been doing the same for Australia and his rise to prominence at the international level over the last 12 months has been extremely welcome for Cheika.
Rodda has been surging of late, as evidenced by his lofty RPI score, whilst Sinckler may be the strongest carrier of the four players. Itoje could well help England edge the lineout battle with his vertical ability and skill at adjusting in the air, whilst the scrum should be dictated by how Ben Moon and Scott Sio deal with the two tightheads, and it looks to be an even contest on paper.
If England have the edge in the lineout, Australia could well have it in overall carrying threats among their forwards, with Kepu, Tolu Latu, Adam Coleman and even David Pocock providing them with front-foot ball when they need it.
Elliot Daly (86) vs Israel Folau (85)
With Daly playing at outside centre week in, week out at club level and Folau one of the best full-backs in the game, this is an uphill battle for the Wasps man.
Daly’s positioning and dealing with contested aerial balls has been in the spotlight over the last few weeks, whilst these are responsibilities that Folau excels at, with his reading of the game from the back almost beyond reproach. If either team kicks loosely, both full-backs are threats to punish them, but in a more measured kicking game, Folau will have the advantage in dealing with the kicks where he is put under pressure by chasers.
Of course, Daly’s cannon of a left boot offers England a fillip in the territory battle and an ability to have a go at the posts from over 50m, but in the overall match-up, the advantage has to be with the Wallabies.
Sam Underhill (64) vs David Pocock (85) and Michael Hooper (86)
In the aftermath of England loss to New Zealand, Jeremy Guscott did an excellent analysis of Underhill’s impressive performance, but one point of contention in it was that Underhill would need to become more selective in his involvements in the game to become a true ‘game-changer’. In short, his eagerness for work defensively was holding him back from creating more turnovers.
Contrary to that, Underhill could thrive against Australia by continuing to be less selective, with the physicality he brings in the tackle, capable of driving ball-carriers back on the gain-line, a game-changing attribute in itself, especially against two operators on the ground as adept as Pocock and Hooper. If Underhill can drive ball-carriers backwards, it denies those two back rowers the opportunity to flood forward and deliver quick ball.
Likewise, when England are attacking, Underhill needs to be ruthless and efficient in his clearing of the two Australians, lest they manage to latch onto the ball and cause England ball-security issues. It’s a role both Chris Robshaw and James Haskell have performed well in recent encounters with Australia and now that burden falls on the shoulders of Underhill.
Expect another strong showing from the Bath flanker in this area, as well as his England teammates, who have looked savvier at the breakdown of late. That said, they will struggle to keep ‘Pooper’ quiet for 80 minutes and anytime support is slow to the ruck, the Wallabies will be a threat to steal and launch a counter-attack.
Watch: Pete Samu and Izack Rodda talk to the media ahead of the match with England on Saturday.
Comments on RugbyPass
His decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
3 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
3 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
3 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
3 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
7 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
7 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
4 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
4 Go to commentsWell done Baby Boks we will take the Draw. No 9 senseless long passes in those conditions. let’s move on and hope for some good weather
7 Go to commentsHow did it end a draw. South Africa didn’t score any points as far as I can see
7 Go to commentsNo doubt this will be a fantastic occasion and I plan to be there, but I think the bean counters have won out over the rugby brains. In my opinion, it is foolhardy to give the Black Ferns the experience of playing in front of 60,000+ at Twickenham a year before they might be playing there in a World Cup Final. Better to play France at Twickenham and Black Ferns at Kingsholm. The difference in takings would be miniscule.
1 Go to commentsDom kant
200 Go to commentsBen is a little incel desperately trying to stir the pot and stay relevant. We used to get mad at his articles. Now we just feel sorry for him
200 Go to commentsPerhaps we may need to put an asterisk on NZ’s ‘87 WC win since the Boks weren’t there. You know, just as a reminder. Poor Ben Smith. Go cry somewhere else.
200 Go to comments