Match Preview - Qantas Wallabies vs England

George Smith - could he be the key to a Wallabies victory against England ?

There has been much gnashing of teeth since the Men of Gold’s narrow victory over Italy.

Qantas Wallabies fans across the country were at first relieved and then a little aghast that RobbieDeans’ team almost succumbed to Australia’s first ever loss against the Azzurri.

And following on from that came the bitter conclusion that there was no way the Wallabies could match it with our Rugby World Cup nemesis, England, this Saturday (1.30am Sunday morning AEDT) at Twickenham.

But look beneath the surface and things are not as dire as they seem.

It was very much a new look Wallabies team, that was disrupted first by the cruel injury to flyhalf for the day Berrick Barnes after just ten minutes and then further injury to centre Timana Tahu on 60 minutes.

At the end of the match we had three new caps – 22-year-old Sekope Kepu, 20-year-old Quade Cooper and the second youngest Wallaby of all time, 18-year-old James O’Connor – all on the field as scores were deadlocked 20-all.

In fact the most memorable moment to come out of the day may have been the courage of Deans to throw his new players into the fire, even though Australia’s unblemished record against Italy rested on a knife edge.

And on top of that the way that the young trio responded to the call with O’Connor, Kepu and especially Cooper, who won the match for the Wallabies with his superb solo try with nine minutes to go, all prominent in the final tense moments.

Indeed Cooper did so well he has held his spot on the bench for this weekend.

And Italy, under former Springbok coach Nick Mallett, are no mugs as they showed when they beat Argentina in Buenos Aires in June and with their improved performances in the Six Nations.

This Saturday the Wallabies will once more be near full strength – considering they are without Lote Tuqiri - still injured, Wycliff Palu (who starts from the bench) - coming back from injury, James Horwill - back in Brisbane, Rocky Elsom - playing his Rugby in Ireland and Dan Vickerman - pursuing his studies.

But back into the Men of Gold’s line-up comes the dual John Eales Medalist, and the fans pick for Man of the Match in no less than four Tests this year – George Smith.

Smith, now nearing 100 Test caps, was already one of the great flankers in world Rugby last year but under Deans this season his play has gone to a whole new level.

There has been times – like against the Springboks in Perth or the All Blacks in Sydney – that Smith has been simply peerless.

The 28-year-old Brumbies star is the glue that holds this Wallabies team together. He provides the constant stream of possession so the Wallabies can release their dangerous backline and he also challenges the opposition ball at every ruck, making their forwards work hard for every scrap and snaffling the pill at the slightest hint of indecision.

Smith transforms the Wallabies play and is the very epitome of Deans “Play to the ball” philosophy that is so prevalent in All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, another Deans protégé.

For a former fullback, Deans knows a lot about the breakdown.

And Smith is only one of the lifts the team is receiving this weekend.

Ryan Cross, the powerful Force centre, who has been so prominent in his first Test season, also returns to the starting XV. As his four tries for the Men of Gold this year have shown, as well as his fans’ Man of the Match award in the third Bledisloe in Brisbane, the blonde bolter adds a whole new dimension to the Wallabies mid-field and is forming a very potent combination with captain Stirling Mortlock.

And further out the two try hero from Hong Kong, Drew Mitchell is back in the starting XV, as is the Wallabies Rookie of the Year, Peter Hynes.

These two add considerable danger to the Wallabies back three.

There has also been much talk about England’s so called dominance at scrum time and how the Wallabies pack must be quaking in their boots. But as Deans himself pointed out during the week, in typical Deans-speak: “the past has no bearing.”

In this context there is very little relevance to a result in France in October last year. As Deans pointed out the Wallabies have just six players back from that XV who started in the Rugby World Cup Quarter Final, England barely four.

This is a slight misnomer from the canny Kiwi. In fact exactly half of the Wallabies 22 this Saturday took part in the match in Marseille.

Adam Ashley-Cooper, Mortlock, Matt Giteau, Smith, Nathan Sharpe and Stephen Moore all started last year and start again on Saturday. Admittedly three were in different positions - Giteau was at inside centre, Mortlock at outside centre and Ashley-Cooper on the wing.

Mitchell, Hugh McMeniman and Al Baxter who were all on the bench that day in October come into the starting line up and Matt Dunning and Palu, who both started, drop back to the bench.

England have just seven from their 22 that day involved on Saturday – wing Paul Sackey, No.8 Nick Easter and props Phil Vickery and Andrew Sheridan are the only survivors from both starting line-ups.

Lock Simon Shaw, who started in Marseille, is among the reserves at Twickenham, and centre Toby Flood and prop Matt Stevens hold their places on the bench.

But the player who may have one of the biggest impacts from the Wallabies side wasn’t even at the World Cup.

Enter Benn Robinson. “Big Benn” or “Fat Cat”, take your pick, has been a revelation in the Wallabies front row this season and completely deserves his loose head starting spot.

He is as strong at the scrum and as mobile round the park as he is nifty with the mic on his regular video stories for www.rugby.com.au.

The front row of Robinson, Moore and Baxter – regardless of what may have happened in 2005, 2007 or even 1907! – is as good as they come in world Rugby and will more than hold their own against Vickery, Sheridan et al.

Which of course brings us to the Wallabies opponents – and here too there is some cause for optimism on the Men of Gold’s behalf.

Under new coach Martin Johnson, this is a side re-building with Delon Armitage at fullback and Riki Flutey, remember him from the Hurricanes, at inside centre.

As good as he was as a captain, and he was very good, ‘Johnno’ is yet to prove his worth as an international coach and as they showed last weekend, in their at times patchy win over the Pacific Islanders (39-13), this England team have a way to go to become great.

Indeed both sides are in similar stages of development. New faces under new coaches on a gradual path of improvement.

But if you look coldly at both sides then it is the Wallabies who may have the edge n experience: Giteau at flyhalf versus whizkid Danny Cipriani; the veteran Sharpe and Mark Chisholm at lock against Steve Borthwick and Tom Palmer; and 90 caps plus Smith and McMeniman and Richard Brown in the loose against Tom Rees, Tom Croft and Easter.

And as we saw last year in Marseille in these really big games, it is so often experience that provides the deciding edge.

But this will not be easy for the Wallabies – not at all. This England team may not be full of household names but they will be desperate for a win.

They sense an exciting new era under Johnson, and they will want to prove they are worthy of being part of it.

But the Wallabies have already experienced that energy all year and they will know how much a win at Twickenham will really open the door for a golden new era under Deans.

A final factor to consider is South African referee Marius Jonker, who the Australians know well, who will be keen to encourage an open game. But England won’t mind that.

Despite what some stuck in the past experts seem to think, England play as enterprising and attacking Rugby as anybody on the planet these days – as their five tries against the Islanders displayed.

This will be a great game and the result will hang in the balance probably until the last few minutes. In the end it will come down to one mistake or one moment of magic perhaps from Giteau, or Cipriani for England, that will decide the contest.

But for Men of Gold fans the good news is that there is no reason, when the dust settles, that it will not be Stirling Mortlock holding aloft the Cook Cup.

The match will be shown exclusively on Channel Ten at 1am Sunday morning November 16th (local times) across Australia : live in to Sydney and Melbourne and delayed into Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. There is no pay TV coverage of the match.

Qantas Wallabies :

15. Adam Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies), 14. Peter Hynes (Queensland Reds), 13. Ryan Cross (Western Force), 12. Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies) (captain), 11. Drew Mitchell (Western Force), 10. Matt Giteau (Western Force), 9. Luke Burgess (NSW Waratahs), 8. Richard Brown (Western Force), 7. George Smith (Brumbies), 6. Hugh McMeniman (Queensland Reds), 5. Nathan Sharpe (Western Force), 4. Mark Chisholm (Brumbies), 3. Al Baxter (NSW Waratahs), 2. Stephen Moore (Queensland Reds), 1. Benn Robinson (NSW Waratahs).

Replacements:

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau (NSW Waratahs), 17. Matt Dunning (NSW Waratahs), 18. Dean Mumm (NSW Waratahs), 19. Wycliff Palu (NSW Waratahs), 20. Sam Cordingley (Queensland Reds), 21. Quade Cooper(Queensland Reds), 22. Digby Ioane (Queensland Reds)

England

15 Delon Armitage (London Irish), 14 Paul Sackey (London Wasps), 13 Jamie Noon (Newcastle Falcons), 12 Riki Flutey (London Wasps), 11 Ugo Monye (Harlequins), 10 Danny Cipriani (London Wasps), 9 Danny Care (Harlequins), 8 Nick Easter (Harlequins), 7 Tom Rees (London Wasps), 6 Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), 5 Tom Palmer (London Wasps), 4 Steve Borthwick (Saracens, captain), 3 Phil Vickery (London Wasps), 2 Lee Mears (Bath Rugby), 1 Andrew Sheridan (Sale Sharks)

Replacements

16 Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints), 17 Matt Stevens (Bath Rugby), 18 Simon Shaw (London Wasps), 19 James Haskell (London Wasps), 20 Michael Lipman (Bath Rugby), 21 Harry Ellis (Leicester Tigers), 22 Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers)

Date: Saturday, November 15
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 14:30 GMT (Sun Nov 16 1.30AM AEDT)
Referee: Marius Jonker