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The Wallabies begin their Spring/Autumn jaunt through the Northern Hemisphere by taking on England at Twickenham. Join us on The Roar from 1.00am AEDT for live scores, blogging, commentary and banter.
Starting the tour against England is a tough ask. The Poms have the air of a team building towards something and will be keen to log some wins against the Southern Hemisphere teams to cap that ascendency.
The biggest news out of the Wallaby camp in the build-up to this match is Ben Mowen replacing James Horwill as captain and the previously maligned Quade Cooper slotting into the vice captain’s role.
It will be interesting to see if there is any clear-cut difference in the Wallabies’ play during this game or if the main pieces were already in place and coach Ewen McKenzie just wanted a cultural change and a general tightening of the game plan.
Going into this tour the Wallabies had been on a two-game upswing of attacking performances. That is important because they’ve been giving up points.
Continuing an attacking style will be needed as England tend to keep the scoreboard ticking over at Twickenham, even against strong sides.
Two determining contests will be the scrum and the breakdown, as in all rugby matches.
Australia has noticeably struggled to adjust to the new scrum rules.
Mako Vunipola isn’t known for his scrummaing prowess – more his bullocking runs – but Tom Youngs and Dan Cole are going to more than even out that discrepancy, especially since Ben Alexander is in the other front row.
This England back row of Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw and Billy Vunipola will really Test the athleticism and power of Ben Mowen, Michael Hooper and Scott Fardy.
Billy Vunipola is a massive unit and creates a clear point of difference between the two teams immediately. The Wallabies might rely on the sheer speed of Hooper if they expect to create their own.
In any event, the team rucking is going to decide a lot in this match as both sides have backlines with creativity and speed to burn.
One interesting thing to watch will be how Israel Folau goes against the Northern Hemisphere teams for the first time.
The quality distribution of Cooper has brought him back into the game in a big way over the last two matches and he’ll be looking to make his mark on world rugby now.
Don’t forget to log on here for scores, blogging and commentary at 1.00am AEDT tonight!
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.