[2015 RWC] Pool A: England vs. Australia (03/10/2015)

[TommiG88]

I would rather have seen ewers called up but it will never happen.

 

[French Tiger]

Damn, this is a big loss but Easter has been excellent this season, especially when he wore the England shirt. And his experience will be very important. Besides, he was in my group of 31

 

[HaydnH]

Well England could score 4 try's themselves (likely if Oz do and Eng win) and then just have to win by 8 or more (it's not 7 or more) OR don't let them score 4 try's.

Anyway the point wasn't "hey lads this easy" the point was "hey lads were still not reliant on other game results going our way".

- - - Updated - - -

Most likely scenario is a victory by 8+ points with no try BP's.

Still think Aus will win though.

I did some maths myself in the Wales Fiji thread. Let's assume both England and Wales both get their BP win's againt Uruguay and Fiji, I'm not confident in Wales even wining given the short turn around and the injuries, but lets assume anyway. The only other 2 games that can effect who goes through will be ENG v AUS and WAL v AUS. The possible points excluding bonus points, max BPs in brackets, are:

AUS beat ENG & AUS beat WAL: AUS 17(19), WAL 14(16), ENG 11(13)
ENG beat AUS & AUS beat WAL: ENG 15(16), WAL 14(16), AUS 13(16)
AUS beat ENG & WAL beat AUS: WAL 18(19), AUS 13(14), ENG 11(13)
ENG beat AUS & WAL beat AUS: WAL 18(19), ENG 15(16), AUS 9(13)


So if England beat Oz with a BP they're 100% through (Eng 16 vs a Oz 16 max, England progressing due to the win). Without England getting the BP, OZ would have to get all 3 bonus points: lose to England by less than seven WITHOUT England scoring 4 tries WHILE scoring 4 tries against BOTH England AND Wales AND beating Wales - which seems complicated but not totally unlikely I suppose.

 

[Jaguares]

Billy out, JJ day-to-day I believe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/34381977

Vunipola is a HUGE loss, he's a real impact player. So England looks like the underdog for this clash

 

[msf]

Wow, looks like Easter is going to start. The longer this World Cup goes on, the more we look like Johnson´s England - excellent back three that can only be brought into play by missing out the centres, decent set piece but a lack of ball carriers, attacking game based solely around Youngs.

 

[MojoPin]

Vunipola is a HUGE loss, he's a real impact player. So England looks like the underdog for this clash

Definitely a big loss, but Morgan on his day is a good replacement isn't he? Doesn't seem to have been firing on all cylinders just yet but normally a very good player. Not Pocock good of course, but it might be enough if he ups his game.

 

[Jaguares]

Is Courtney Lawes in doubts too? Mmm...

 

[Irish boy]

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Easter would definetly prefer Ewers. If only Nathan Hughes was English now .

Nowell has to play at 13 if JJ not fit with Ford at 10 and Burgess at 12. I know will say that Farrell played well but we need tries baby please ditch Barritt the man does not have an attacking bone in his body. Also think Burgess has played pretty well so far and got some unfair treatment on here. It says a lot that as soon as he went off we played badly against Wales

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Is Courtney Lawes in doubts too? Mmm...

Don't like to see a player injured but Lancaster keeps picking him despite his form so I wouldn't be devestated if he missed the next game or two.

Definitely a big loss, but Morgan on his day is a good replacement isn't he?

When Morgan is fully fit/on form he's the better of the two IMO - he's been out so long, though, that it's a big ask.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Barritt should not see an England shirt ever again. Defence is his strength yet he was exposed on the outside more than one by Wales. Australia will do that even more. If Lancaster sticks with him, he is officially mad. I hope every day between now and the aus game England practice the breakdown because it is absolutely ****ing unacceptable at the moment.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Barritt should not see an England shirt ever again. Defence is his strength yet he was exposed on the outside more than one by Wales. Australia will do that even more. If Lancaster sticks with him, he is officially mad. I hope every day between now and the aus game England practice the breakdown because it is absolutely ****ing unacceptable at the moment.

He was picked to play at 13 - I blame the coach who put him somewhere where he couldn't deliver his usual game.

 

[ncurd]

He was picked to play at 13 - I blame the coach who put him somewhere where he couldn't deliver his usual game.

I blame the coach but I do that just for selecting Barritt at all...

 

[kesh]

Think Easter is exactly the type of player we need to come in, add a bit of guile late on. What's the news with Morgan? We badly need him to start and bounce players out of the way again.

I can't wait till Thursday for the team selections... for all we know Lancaster might move Brown to the wing, bring Goode in to add more distribution to SB/BB.

 

[Dirty Ape]

I see. Is that the general feeling in NZ. Just interested to know what the general perception/ feeling towards the NH teams is down South

Won't pretend to speak for anyone else, and I live in London so my finger is not exactly on the pulse down south, but I definitely want Australia to drive the final nail home this weekend.

Various reasons I guess. The main one is that I think it is best for NZ. I genuinely see England as more of a threat to us than Australia. Overall I think Australia are a better team but we know them so well and as long as we put a decent performance on the park I expect us to beat them 8-9 times out of 10. England, on the other hand, are much more limited in what they do but their power+defence+goal kicking well executed could easily turn us over in a high pressure Twickenham knockout match.

Similar with France and Ireland - I would rather face Ireland in the quarter final even though I think they are better than France. Again I think a decent NZ performance will get past Ireland 9 times out of 10. And I doubt France will get to the final on the other side of the draw. Maybe it's a little irrational to fear France like this but the combination of their strengths and our history makes me much more nervous about playing them.

The ideal knockout draw for us, in my opinion, is Ireland then Wales/Australia then South Africa. I would be much more confident of getting through that lot than having to beat France and England.

 

[TobesHodges]

What I think the England team should be, just got to go for it..
1.Marler
2.George
3.Cole
4.Parling
5.Launchbury
6.Haskell
7.Robshaw
8.Morgan

9.Care
10. Farrell/Ford
11.May
12.Slade
13.Joseph
14.Nowell
15.Brown

16.Youngs 17.M.Vunipola 18.Brookes 19.Lawes 20.Wood 21.Wigglesworth 22.Burgess 23.Watson

George brings efficiency at all set piece and technically very good, Vunipola out so Haskell at 6.

If Ben Youngs is injured Care, real sharpness is needed in our game.

Slade at 12 for the love of God..

Nowell pocket rocket on the wing.

Now.. I would play George, Haskell, Care, Slade, Nowell because all these guys will be absolutely fresh and have massive points to prove. I.e show SL and England why they should have been picked.. What more motivation to give a massive performance.

I would actually not have Farrell or Ford on the bench, so whoever gets the 10 shirt the other doesn't get in the team. Need explosiveness off the bench in the backs, something we've missed, Burgess gives that and Watson is a big threat ball in hand.

This is my view, most will say it's a wet dream or disagree, but hey this is what I'd do..

 

[Peat]

Am I the only England fan who feels a little uneasy when I see people suggesting centre partnerships made up of two rather light lads? It's pretty difficult to go around a team that doesn't believe you might go straight through them and the forwards really can't do it all.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Burgess - Slade

It's the only centre partnership we have with anything close to familiarity (two games, is it?).

 

[Chistera]

Lawes and Joseph's absences will a critical blow to England, Vunipola's absence won't matter as much but Australia will be rested and raring to go. Early call: Australia by 20.

 

[Peat]

Burgess - Slade

It's the only centre partnership we have with anything close to familiarity (two games, is it?).

One I think.

I'm as guilty as anyone here, as I was cheering for it, but I'm really wishing we had Twelvetrees and Burrell now. I know they have some super glaring flaws, but at least they knew international rugby and each other. Whatever we do, we're throwing a real gamble out there.

It's been said before, but four years of preparation to get here... clucking bell.

 

[ABs2011]

I see. Is that the general feeling in NZ. Just interested to know what the general perception/ feeling towards the NH teams is down South

I'll take a punt at answering your question. These are my general impressions of what people in NZ think.
1) They tend to like the underdog - hence a preference for Wales over England (actually any NH over England).
2) They tend to think English Rugby is boring while on the other hand think Wales play a more exciting game.
3) There is a dislike for the English Rugby media.
4) AB supporters are way more scared of England beating us than any other NH team and hence want them to lose.
5) There are quite a few people in NZ that are just d!cks and think they hate England without even really knowing why.