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The Junior Wallabies are heading into a do-or-die clash against England on Tuesday in Cape town, with a semi-final spot on the line. Join The Roar for live updates from 10pm AEST.
Head coach Nathan Grey has slammed officials for failing to act on blatant high tackles during his side’s 30-10 defeat to Ireland last Thursday, labelling it a “disgrace”.
Two incidents have forced the pair of winger Darby Lancaster and flanker Ned Slack-Smith to the sideline through HIA protocol.
Despite being raw over the lack of protection his players were afforded during their loss, Grey says all there is on beating England.
“We will just concentrate on what we can control… how we prepare and how we play, and we’re going to back ourselves,” Grey said.
And back themselves they must, as they deal with injuries to their impressive props.
Massimo Lutis was wining the scrum battle for the Aussies until he limped off early in the first half of the Ireland game with a hamstring injury. Making matters worse, Western Force young-gun Marley Pearce is still under a three-match suspension for a high-tackle against Fiji in game one of the tournament.
Lock Jhy Legg hobbled off with an ankle injury on Thursday, which is now testing the Aussie’s depth.
It’s an ominous situation, particularly after England got the better of the men from the emerald Isle in their round one clash, particularly at scrum time.
“From a technical perspective it’s around making sure we’re hitting as an eight, maintaining our positioning, our technical aggression and getting on the front foot in our scrummaging,” Grey said.
Australia got a taste of the northern hemisphere’s best last week and it was a step-up in physicality up front.
England will bring much of the same, their threats are littered throughout the team with hulking props Afolabi Fasogbon (London Irish) and Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks) being two of the competition’s most damaging ball runners.
In the backrow Chandler Cunningham-South (London Irish) and Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs) were immense in their clash against Ireland and will be the go-to men when England want go-forward.
“We just got to make sure our defensive structures are set nice and early, we know they’re very direct and they got big ball runners so the important thing for us is to… back our tackle technique and to get those ball runners on the ground and look to force some turnovers,” Grey said.
“Around our ruck-defence, they’re going to pick and go a lot and we’ve got to keep showing up for each other.”
The Aussie backs showed great handling against Fiji where the track was a little dryer, the team hopes the conditions will be favourable.
“We prefer to play on a dry pitch… I think it will definitely help our style of play,” rising captain Teddy Wilson said.
Grey has opted for stability and consistency in the halves with childhood friends Wilson and Jack Bowen reprising their duet in the No.9 and .10 jerseys respectively.
Wilson knows England will be well regimented but says there are opportunities to be taken.
“There’s definitely some opportunities we see in their defence … they’re pretty tight in their defence so we feel we can exploit them out-wide… we’ve got a clear plan of what we need to do; stick to our process,” Wilson said.
Fleet-footed Ronan Leahy (Western Force) replaces Lancaster after his head-knock, but Grey says he’s just as quick as the Sevens flyer.
“We’ve got two or three players who are just as fast as Darby so in terms of his experience we lose a little bit but in terms of speed we don’t lose a lot,” Grey said.
The Junior Wallabies have an uphill battle ahead of themselves, with England the favourites to win the contest in-tight. The backlines are well matched, and if Bowen and Teddy can play at pace, they have electric wingers who know how to finish out-wide. Nevertheless, a strong set-piece is crucial, it provides a strong platform for the backs to launch from and can also put teams under penalty pressure. It feels like the climb will be too great for the Junior Wallabies.
Venue: Athlone Stadium, Cape Town.
Kick-Off: Tuesday 10pm (AEST)
Watch: Stan Sports
Teams
Australia
1. Jack Barrett (NSW Waratahs, Randwick)
2. Max Craig (QLD Reds, Easts Tigers)
3. Nick Bloomfield (QLD Reds, Easts Tigers)
4. Toby Macpherson (ACT Brumbies, Uni-Norths Owls)
5. Daniel Maiava-Tapusoa (Melbourne Rebels, Wests Bulldogs)
6. Lachlan Hooper (ACT Brumbies, Vikings Rugby)
7. Nick Baker (QLD Reds, GPS Rugby Club)
8. Leafi Heka Talataina (Melbourne Rebels, Endeavour Hills)
9. Teddy Wilson (c) (NSW Waratahs, Eastern Suburbs)
10. Jack Bowen (NSW Waratahs, Eastern Suburbs)
11. Ronan Leahy (Western Force, Sydney University)
12. Taj Annan (QLD Reds, Souths Magpies)
13. Henry O’Donnell (NSW Waratahs, Northern Suburbs)
14. Tim Ryan (QLD Reds, Brothers Rugby Club)
15. Mason Gordon (Melbourne Rebels, Wests Bulldogs)
Replacements: Liam Bowron, Harrison Usher, Trevor King, Ollie, John Bryant, Klayton Thorn, Harry McLaughlin-Phillips, David Vaihu.
England
1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour
2. Nathan Jibulu
3. Afolabi Fasogbon
4. Finn Carnduff
5. Lewis Chessum (C)
6. Nathan Michelow
7. Greg Fisilau
8. Chandler Cunningham-South
9. Charlie Bracken
10. Connor Slevin
11. Cassius Cleaves
12. Joseph Woodward
13. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White
14. Jacob Cusick
15. Sam Harris
Replacements: Finn Theobald-Thomas, Archie McArthur, Jimmy Halliwell, Harvey Cuckson, Tristan Woodman, Nye Thomas, Joe Jenkins, Louie Johnson.
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