England v Australia

Catogrande

Jack Nowell out now. Hammy damaged in training. (Common theme, training injuries). Likely see Cokanasiga step up. Left field alternative, Brown to come back at 15 with Daley reverting to the wing. Depth getting tested now.

Margin_Walker

TBF wing is one area that we can take a few injuries without too much of a drop off. Big opportunity for Cokanasiga, who'll surely come in.

Daly also needs a performance at FB. Hasn't really looked at home there yet. Far less depth there and Brown would look a good shout to come back in for the 6N unless he really nails it down. I'd actually rather see him at 13 than Slade, but Eddie's shown very little inclination on that front.

Stargazer

England starting XV:

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 24 caps), 14. Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 1 cap), 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps), 12. Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors, 15 caps), 11. Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 39 caps), 10. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 64 caps) co-captain, 9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 79 caps),
1 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps), 2. Jamie George (Saracens, 31 caps), 3. Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 16 caps), 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 25 caps), 5. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 67 caps), 6. Brad Shields (Wasps, 4 caps), 7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 8 caps), 8. Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 7 caps).

Finishers:
16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 96 caps) co-captain, 17. Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps), 18. Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 14 caps), 19. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 9 caps), 20. Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 17 caps), 21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 32 caps), 22. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 50 caps), 23. Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps).

https://www.englandrugby.com/news/england-australia-eddie-jones-names-side-for-quilter-international/

Catogrande

@stargazer Given injury, form and availability I'm quite pleased with that run on side. The bench slightly less so. Wigglesworth is there as Hobson's choice now that Care is out of favour but with Tuilagi there we really have no cover at wing or FB.

Crucial

Oz 24 not named yet?

I doubt Suzie has got to them. I can't see any advantage in nobbling this team to make them worse than they already are.

MiketheSnow

@stargazer said in England v Australia:

England starting XV:

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 24 caps), 14. Joe Cokanasiga (Bath Rugby, 1 cap), 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 16 caps), 12. Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors, 15 caps), 11. Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 39 caps), 10. Owen Farrell (Saracens, 64 caps) co-captain, 9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 79 caps),
1 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps), 2. Jamie George (Saracens, 31 caps), 3. Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 16 caps), 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 25 caps), 5. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 67 caps), 6. Brad Shields (Wasps, 4 caps), 7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 8 caps), 8. Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 7 caps).

Finishers:
16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 96 caps) co-captain, 17. Alec Hepburn (Exeter Chiefs, 5 caps), 18. Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs, 14 caps), 19. Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby, 9 caps), 20. Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 17 caps), 21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 32 caps), 22. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 50 caps), 23. Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 26 caps).

https://www.englandrugby.com/news/england-australia-eddie-jones-names-side-for-quilter-international/

Fair play to Eddie, he resisted

That squad looks too strong for the Aussies.

England by 7-11

Stargazer

Wallabies

1 Scott Sio (54 Tests)
2 Tolu Latu (11 Tests)
3 Sekope Kepu (102 Tests)
4 Izack Rodda (16 Tests)
5 Adam Coleman (30 Tests)
6 Jack Dempsey (9 Tests)
7 Michael Hooper (c) (90 Tests)
8 David Pocock (77 Tests)
9 Will Genia (99 Tests)
10 Matt To’omua (41 Tests)
11 Jack Maddocks (6 Tests)
12 Bernard Foley (67 Tests)
13 Samu Kerevi (24 Tests)
14 Dane Haylett-Petty (30 Tests)
15 Israel Folau (72 Tests)

Reserves
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau (88 Tests)
17 Jermaine Ainsley (2 Tests)
18 Allan Alaalatoa (30 Tests)
19 Rob Simmons (93 Tests)
20 Ned Hanigan (19 Tests)
21 Pete Samu (8 Tests)
22 Nick Phipps (70 Tests)
23 Sefa Naivalu (9 Tests)

IN: Tolu Latu, Jack Maddocks, Nick Phipps, Sefa Naivalu
OUT: Marika Koroibete, Kurtley Beale, Taniela Tupou, Adam Ashley-Cooper

http://www.rugby.com.au/News/2018/11/22/Spring-Tour-Wallabies-England-team-announcement

MiketheSnow

Actually, this could go either way if the Aussies are fit & well.

If England give them the early ride they gave to Japan, then it could make for an interesting afternoon.

Crucial

That 6-2 bench split always looks risky. Needs another back (24th man)

KiwiMurph

Wallabies are going to wear their indigenous jersey and their one indigineous player Beale gets dropped.

Paekakboyz

@kiwimurph so he can really appreciate how cool it looks from the stands!!

Bovidae

@crucial said in England v Australia:

That 6-2 bench split always looks risky. Needs another back (24th man)

6-1 in reality as Phipps hardly plays.

Machpants

@bovidae said in England v Australia:

@crucial said in England v Australia:

That 6-2 bench split always looks risky. Needs another back (24th man)

6-1 in reality as Phipps hardly plays.

5-1, Hanigan too

Foley at 12, really? It was so successful against Italy

Snowy

@kiwimurph said in England v Australia:

Wallabies are going to wear their indigenous jersey and their one indigineous player Beale gets dropped.

Anyone know why? I can't be bothered looking, but he is one of their classiest players. Done something wrong off field again?

KiwiMurph

@snowy I didn't see the Italy match but he had an absolute nightmare game against Wales the week prior. His recent form has been really poor.

Snowy

@kiwimurph said in England v Australia:

@snowy I didn't see the Italy match but he had an absolute nightmare game against Wales the week prior. His recent form has been really poor.

Thanks. Have only watched bits of those matches. Aussies really only have a couple of game breakers so would have tried to play him back into form I would have thought. You don't get better by not playing as a general rule, but confidence does help too.

Stargazer

Beale is one of the players who may just need a good break after playing an awful lot of minutes this year. Seventh overall in playing minutes in SR. In Aussie, only Foley played more SR.

For comparison, the top 10 of minutes played in SR:

Jantjies (LIO): 1520
Mostert (LIO): 1520
A Coetzee (LIO): 1485
Bridge (CRU): 1437
Foley (WAR): 1418
K Smith (LIO): 1367
Beale (WAR): 1353
Todd (CRU): 1350
Alaimalo (CHI): 1344
Rona (WAR): 13 38

mariner4life

that is a very "what the fuck?" wallaby team.

antipodean

Finally Toomua gets a chance to show he can direct a team around the park and he's been given the powerhouse Foley outside of him to hit it up...

Stargazer

Pocock out of the 23.

Wallabies superstar David Pocock will miss this weekend's Test against England, forced out of the team with a neck injury.

The no. 8 had a last-minute run on Friday morning in London but failed that test and ultimately Australia opted to rule him out.

Pocock has had neck issues all season and it was a similar injury that forced him out of the Wallabies clash with South Africa in Brisbane in September.

This latest aggravation came from a hit in the Wallabies' 26-7 win over Italy last weekend in Padova.

While the Wallabies are yet to confirm a replacement, it had been expected Pete Samu would replace Pocock in the back row, the third time in his debut season that he has been drafted into the starting side to replace either Pocock or captain Michael Hooper.

Interestingly, Pocock's withdrawal could open the door for Kurtley Beale to return to the team after being initially left out of the team in a 6-2 bench.

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2018/11/23/england-wallabies-pocock-ruled-out

The Silver Fern

England v Australia