Rugby, a sport that requires sheer brutality, resilience and team-work. It’s a sport that punishes mistakes and rewards skill – something that England discovered against Wales after their 25-28 loss to them.
Tonight the hosts of this year’s Rugby World Cup play Australia at Twickenham, knowing that a loss to the Wallabies will send England out of the tournament that they have been tipped to perform well.
It’s safe to say that England’s World Cup form hasn’t been amazing. England beat Fiji 35-11 in the opening match with a performance that was described to have ‘room for improvement.’ Their second pool match saw them play against geographical neighbours Wales, which they narrowly lost out on another sloppy performance.
Tonight England must put all their might and worth into the match tonight, they’ve got 60,000,000 people behind them, desperate for a strong England performance that will see them continue on in the tournament.
England coach, Stuart Lancaster, has described tonight’s ordeal as ‘the biggest match of [his player’s] careers’. It’s estimated that 82,000 fans will be at Twickenham tonight and they probably wouldn’t want to see a defeat that will make England the first ever host nation to fail to reach the knock-out stage of the World Cup.
England have won four of their five recent meetings with Australia, statistically making them favourites to win the game, however, Australia have won both their opening pool matches.
It’s memorable as England beat the Wallabies in the World Cup Final in 2003, with Johnny Wilkinson’s famous final minute drop-kick to secure their third World Cup title.
My prediction for tonight’s match is an optimistic one, I’m going for an England win, but not by a large margin.
Be sure to post your hopes and opinions in the comment box!
Line-ups: England
15. Brown, 14. Watson, 13. Joseph, 12. Barritt, 11. May, 10. Farrell, 9. B Youngs, 8. Morgan, 7. Robshaw (c), 6. Wood, 5. Launchbury, 4. Parling, 3. Cole, 2. T Youngs, 1. Marler
Australia
15. Folau, 14. Ashley-Cooper, 13. Kuidrani, 12. Giteau, 11. Horne, 10. Foley, 9. Genia, 8. Pocock, 7. Hooper, 6. Fardy, 5. Simmons, 4. Douglas, 3. Kepu, 2. Moore (c), 1. Sio
