Cheika opts against Hunt for England start

You’re shocked by Kerevi getting another run at centre, but completely imperturbed by Ned Flanders being within postcode distance of an Australian Rugby National Team representative jersey for a double figure opportunity? Yes indeed. The mind boggles.

S.Kerevi will be aimed at G.Ford in the test as O.Farrell shouldn't have any problem taking him on. Eddie Jones has brought in S.Underhill, a tackling machine, to take the load off Ford and sort B.Foley and S.Kerevi out. Kerevi needs to hit the line at full speed and aim for space as that's where he is devastating, but he can't do that unless Foley or Genia know where to pass. They can only get this synergy by playing often together and there lies the conundrum. He was badly exposed in the 1st half by a modest Welsh defence, just running into brick walls, upright and getting stripped. He is a devastating player for the Reds, but at OC where he can get going before receiving the ball. As for Ned Hanigan, when someone posts "(Ned) Hanigan was one of the best Super Rugby players and his form absolutely deserves selection", as they did yesterday, then I just give up to even try to comment as they won't listen. I am a rabid Tahs fan, went to every SR game in Sydney this year and watched every away game live, and I can assure you that Ned did bvgger all that put him above any other SR flanker. The person who made that comment should watch how Los Jaguares and Perth Force destroyed the Tah's pack. They didn't aim at Ned, they didn't have to as they simply tossed him out of the way to get to the Tahs locks and TeleTubby Tommy. Ask yourselves this, would Ned and Tom Robertson be playing for the WB if they were in the Force squad and not the Tahs? Would they have even got a SR game?

Four softies in the forward pack means the remaining four, Adam Coleman, Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Scott Sio will have a lot of work to do. By the 60th minute there will be some very tired boys out there looking for some cavalry with muscle, and out comes Tommy! I hope M.Cheika goes for the 6:2 bench as I don't think H.Speight can pack a scrum even as good as K.Beale. :) Lukhan Tui, Tetera Faulkner and Blake Enever must be wondering if them Poms would rather see some prime Aussie beef crunching into them rather than soft lollies like N.Hanigan, T.Robertson and R.Simmons. I can only think Blake Enever was taken on tour so M.Cheika can get in his ear and recruit him for the Tah Tahs.

@jeznez SBW and Owen Farrell are completely different players. Offering completely different threats. I would say that defending against them is incomparable.

Cheika has done pretty well in bringing this team together. Hoping kerevi in particular can bring up a good one.

@fionn if you are being used as a battering ram (well lets face it he is not a playmaker) then running upright is not going to help. Not sure where you are going with this. And you do have a problem whenever someone disagrees with you. Kerevi has had good games and bad games. To beat England you need to have all players having great games. Problem with Kerevi at this stage is consistency. I don't have a problem with his defence any more then i do foley or beale. Hannigan even if he is a work in progress should be doing that in SR. I am a Tahs fan but am the first to admit he is doing his job but there is better options. He needs to mature some strength in contact.

Jez, I think that our attack looks better than England's, that's the only disagreement I will make after reading your excellent post.

As an England fan I must say I am very happy to see Kerevi and Kuridrani partnering up in midfield. (No offence to either player of course). It's just that with the new laws, England can defend with 14 men in a line (once the tackler is back on his feet). Big, boshers can be doubled, even triple tackled league style. The whole back line will have to be running wicked decoys.

Hughes is the challenging one in the back five (plus Itoje off the bench). Lawes v Coleman & Launchbury v Simmons - are both good match ups Robshaw v Hanigan - has youth, mobility and lineout vs a much harder player who is a 6.5 rather than an out and out 6. Underhill vs Hooper - has to be advantage Hooper Hughes v McMahon - is all power to the big England man, McMahon has more minutes in him but they will just sub Hughes later in the match. Itoje v Philip - is advantage England. Itoje is a super player Simmonds v McCalman/Timani - they are adding a fitter, faster, smaller player late in the match as we get bigger and lift our power levels. The coaches reverse the styles they want from their BR as the game progresses. Kicking out of hand, breakdown, scrum and a bit more subtlety to our attack - has to be advantage England ovverall but very much looking forward to the match and absolutely hope we can wipe that smirk off!

"I’m worried about the breakdown". Yes, but I am even more worried about the scrum. So much will depend on how the referee deals this set piece. England have a fair history of trying all kinds of tricks, and we are generally never dominant enough to handle this approach, plus a referee who does not understand the scrum. I thought both the Wales v WB's and Ireland v Boks games were badly refereed at scrum time. I hope we don't see the same on Sat. at Twickenham

Some musings on this test. I reckon the EJ game will be about squeezing some key pressure points. Dominate the scrum and particularly the breakdown Win the kicking duels This will mean Australia suffer poor field position and our attacking flow will unravel. Penalties will occur. Defensive structure will be under real pressure. That's all England needs and they don't need to play much rugby. What do we need to do? Front row needs to really perform and surprise England in early scrums. Back row all have to simply fight fire with fire. Oh for a Poey! McCalman on early. Coleman to have one of his big games physically. Foley needs to get 2 x K's into some space and win back some field position momentum. Hodge to do the kicking out of hand. Genia to stay on the field because he is the best leader under pressure we have got. Take the smirk of Eddie's face.

I think what Fionn and PeterK are saying is that he has already proved you wrong.

I think Kerevi was excellent on debut in that first test - a try assist, 61 mtrs off 7 carries, 2 clean breaks and a defender beaten (not sure why ESPN grade those differently), no missed tackles. For a debut that was a strong effort. The second we failed to manage the conditions and no one shone. We had to major issues that entire series. We couldn't manage field position with their kickers (esp. Farrell) dominating the kicking duel with Foley. And the forwards massively lost the battle of the breakdown. Kerevi wasn't the issue. I'm worried about the breakdown but at least with Beale and Hodge we are better equipped in the kicking department.

Thanks for clarifying - I say get him capped anyway! Not certain his scrummaging is where it needs to be but its coming along and the sooner we lock him in the better.

An early flyhalf or backline injury looks like the fly in the bench ointment.

The Kerevi- Kurindrani centre combo worked so well against England in the first two tests in June 2106 - especially the second - 7-23 for England. Expect another round of rope-a-dope from Eddie's boys

He has one more year with the Crusaders which will see him eligible for the AB's. Agree, we should be doing everything we can to get him back. I'd go so far as to change the ARU selection rules and offer to cap him next weekend! In a couple of years time he and Tupou would give us contrasting options at TH, while his brother and Sio (with potentially Slipper in the mix) would give us a strong LH group as well.

Mate, you raved about Hanigan and criticised Kerevi and Hunt as not really being up to it over the last 2 days. You have zero credibility here. It isn't just logic. As I've said, no matter how many times you claim that, it won't be true. It's still untrue nonsense you've made up. So you're allowed to change lines and to knock chasers off the ball? Weird. I wonder why it isn't constantly being done every time a line break is made if it is legal to stop chasers.

not raving about every half decent reds player is not bias. Its just logic. He hasn't proven himself yet at etst level. to suggest he is, is simple bias on your part. DHP is entitled to run any support line he chooses. It happens every week in rugby and I is never penalised. It is up to the defensive player to not take the support player out. It was Savea that should've been penalised.

Yeah, Speight offers very little over Hodge, Beale or Koroibete. They're all very fit anyway, and can be effective for the full 80.