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

[TobesHodges]

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.

Understand the thought process, we lost the balance in the backline as soon as Tuilagi went out IMO, probably England's most influential back, with going forward..

 

[ncurd]

2) They tend to think English Rugby is boring while on the other hand think Wales play a more exciting game. .

Wales? Exciting? If you insist....

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.

Honestly I just wish Lancaster was clear on what he wanted as a centre partnership with Joseph and not include Barritt in that thought. So he actually played them together in the 6 nations but he insisted on Burrell whom he's dropped completely....

But honestly the worst part of this in reality is Lancaster didn't know what to do when Joseph was injured....Slade/Barritt I would accept.

I think us as fans didn't expect him to go with something completely new an untried....even in the warm up games he tried stuff that was never going to happen....

 

[Peat]

Wales? Exciting? If you insist...

It's the "traditional" image of the nations. Plenty of fans over here have't quite caught on to the changing reality, nevermind elsewhere in the world.

 

[ncurd]

It's the "traditional" image of the nations. Plenty of fans over here have't quite caught on to the changing reality, nevermind elsewhere in the world.

I know but Wales haven't played an exciting brand of rugby for at least 7-8 years...I use to be a big fan of them in my younger days. I thought some people would cotton on to this by now.

 

[msf]

Looks like Lancaster got all the marginal calls wrong: Burgess over Burrell (though I would have actually taken Burrell over Barritt), Morgan over Easter (just because he looks like he will be unfit for a fair portion of England´s tournament) and Kruis over Attwood (our scrum looked weak against Fiji even if it didn´t against Wales, it would have been nice to have that option) and Cipriani over Goode (just because).

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Didn't Burgess and Slade play a saxons game during the 6N and then a warm up?
It's more than most we have.

 

[kesh]

Didn't Burgess and Slade play a saxons game during the 6N and then a warm up?
It's more than most we have.

Might of played two Saxon games together, definitely one Saxon game though and the France friendly, i mean test match.

 

[jomjom]

I havent gotten butterflies over a match in a long time... And Im not even English or Australian! English rugby is at so much stake here... Imagine all the lost revenue of unsold memorabilia, playing one more pointless game against Uruguay before having to pack the bags and watching every other nation march on, first team in World Cup history to host and not make it out of the pool, never forgetting choosing to kick to corner, end of Lancasters career...

Sorry, honestly not trying to rub salt into the wounds of any English supports in the event of an English loss... just coming to terms with the situation at hand...

Although I would love to see Australia and Ireland play in a semi-final I kind of am taking a bit of pity on England and would be happy to see them win too... Though then again is sport ever fair!?

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Typical Irish arrogance!

 

[Ospervat]

England flanker Tom Wood escaped with a warning for the accidental kick to the head that caused the injury to Liam Williams and is free to play in the now pivotal Pool A match against Australia on Saturday.

 

[RoosTah]

I think this is the only match the Wallabies could possibly play where kiwis support us lol. Never really understood why kiwis hate Aussie rugby so much though to be honest given it's a minority sport here that struggles for oxygen under the weight of the NRL and AFL behemoths. Heck, if you go to Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth (where the "other half" of the population live), most people don't even know the difference between league and union :-/ .

In any case, this is a very hard game to pick for mine until we see the teams. I am cautiously confident Cheika will have his chargers ready for an upset given his impressive history of getting underdog/under performing teams up for championship games, but England will be very intense...

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I am cautiously confident Cheika will have his chargers ready for an upset given his impressive history of getting underdog/under performing teams up for championship games.

You're ****ed then, cause Australia are massive favourites.

 

[RoosTah]

You're ****ed then, cause Australia are massive favourites.

lol really? According to the bookies or the English media? Confidence is pretty mute here... no one is willing to seriously back the Wallabies after Auckland it seems.

 

[ABs2011]

You're ****ed then, cause Australia are massive favourites.

Haha! What bookie do you use mate? I gotta get me a piece of that! Guaranteed money!!! Seriously, I've not seen a single bookie who has OZ favourites let alone "massive favourites"!

I think you may have your wires crossed their buddy!

- - - Updated - - -

Wales? Exciting? If you insist....Honestly I just wish Lancaster was clear on what he wanted as a centre partnership with Joseph and not include Barritt in that thought. So he actually played them together in the 6 nations but he insisted on Burrell whom he's dropped completely....

But honestly the worst part of this in reality is Lancaster didn't know what to do when Joseph was injured....Slade/Barritt I would accept.

I think us as fans didn't expect him to go with something completely new an untried....even in the warm up games he tried stuff that was never going to happen....

Haha! I didn't say Kiwi's thought they were exciting, just more exciting that England (who I said many Kiwi's view as boring - so I'm far from calling Wales the Harlem Globe Trotters of world rugby ) . And yes this is a generalisation over years of rugby, not specific to the current teams and their style of play.

That being said, I watched the second half of Wales Eng and Wales were making all the play. Looked like the "more exciting" Wales team of old

 

[The Jones Boy]

Why are you Poms even discussing your backline.
Stop that nonsense immediately !!
This game is ALL about your forwards.
You must dominate and tackle aggressively every active second of the game.
You must give the Wallabies a truly torrid time at ALL the set pieces and keep the ball tight as often as possible. Starve your own backs of the ball and in so doing starve the opposition for any opportune it to get their two sniffers to the breakdown and pinch your ball.
Keep Hooper and Pocock where they don't want to be, in the middle of an old school forwards dust up. If you let the sniffers get off the leash they will be in your backline in a heartbeat and while Burgess can handle them bugger all other Pommy backs can.
England must maintain maximum forward intensity for any 'active' periods of the game.
Choke the Aussie forwards and tie them up, deny them possession and turn it into a forwards dominated slugfest.
Kick for goal at every opportunity and try to keep the scoreboard ticking over like Johnny did in 2003.
It ain't pretty but its effective and as England are now arriving early at the knockout stage it's time to stick to what they do best, the 10 man grind.
Aussie don't like it. It cramps their style but if England try to get expansive Aussie will hurt them when they get turnover ball.
Lots of mauling so the crowd can sing the chariot dirge, lots of hitting it up and crashing into the point of contact.
Plenty of scrums. Slow the game down. England has a powerful scrum, use it.

 

[RoosTah]

I think this ^ is why England are favourites... They have a suffocating style of play that Australia just doesn't cope well with, and at home in front of 80k screaming fans, they should be pretty solid favourites. Australia were always favourites to beat Wales and to lose to England, and I don't think that's changed much.

What has changed is the pressure. It's all on England now - they lose this week and it's game over. So the question is, will they choke under that pressure or thrive? Judging by how the played against Wales, I'm not so sure this unit deals with pressure all that well... Also, whilst Australia finds the English game troubling, our forwards have made some important strides this year at the set piece, and we were able to effectively grow into the game against a similar side in the Boks (who are 10-0 against England in the last decade), so depending on who Cheika picks in his starting line up, we should be a lot harder to shove around than normal. All in all it should make for a tight game, but I have a feeling our goal kicking will kill us more than anything...

 

[Mcfadden]

I think this is the only match the Wallabies could possibly play where kiwis support us lol. Never really understood why kiwis hate Aussie rugby so much though to be honest given it's a minority sport here that struggles for oxygen under the weight of the NRL and AFL behemoths. Heck, if you go to Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth (where the "other half" of the population live), most people don't even know the difference between league and ...

Haha, I dunno about hate, but some people are just a few steps away from that. I think our own kiwi media is responsible for a lot of it - it's a bit unbearable. It's not just Aussie rugby though, it's Aussie anything. I love the trans Tasman rivalry but people get carried away too and get way too sensitive. That's probably one of the main things that winds me up about the sporting section in our country. That, and our self righteous attitude on how sportsmen should behave, I.e: grant Elliot in the cricket. Anyway, I'll be cheering the Wallabies on for this one. Generally I don't mind cheering you guys against northern opposition.

 

[ABs2011]

So Palu and Skelton both out of the RWC. Skelton not a big loss although he does offer an impact factor off the bench. Palu is a big loss though.

 

[RoosTah]

Palu has been ineffective since his 2014 season with the Tahs to be honest. I actually don't think either are bad for us...

 

[Jaguares]

So Palu and Skelton both out of the RWC. Skelton not a big loss although he does offer an impact factor off the bench. Palu is a big loss though.

Palu is a former player. Ben McCalman is in better shape by far