Australia
30
Match Complete
England
28
| 83 |  | O. Farrell | ||
| 82 |  | J. V. Poortvliet | ||
| 79 | | O. Farrell | ||
| 79 | | H. Arundell | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 78 | ||
| P. Samu | | 76 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 70 | ||
| F. Fainga'a | | 68 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 65 | ||
| J. Petaia | | 63 | ||
| 60 |  | O. Farrell | ||
| 48 | | E. Genge | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 42 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 42 | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 22 | ||
| 20 | | O. Farrell | ||
| 6 | | O. Farrell |
| 3 | Tries | 3 | ||
| 3 | Conversions | 2 | ||
| 3 | Penalty Goals | 3 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Wallabies host England in Australia for the first time in six years with the first Test in Perth. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:55pm AEST.
After all the talk and anticipation the series is finally here. England coach Eddie Jones wanted to play some mind games but Dave Rennie was having none of it this week.
The Aussies know just how important this first game is after losing 3-zip six years ago.
Much has been made of Dave Rennie’s selections, particularly the omissions of Reds players in Tate McDermott and James O’Connor.
He explained those selections in Thurday’s press conference and now the players he’s gone with have to prove their worth at Optus Stadium.
“We left James out of the mix (because) he’s not quite sharp enough yet,” Rennie said.
“Obviously, he’s missed a big chunk of the second part of the year, didn’t play many of the Kiwi games, and had two different injuries.
The other big news of the week was the selection of two debutants in Cadeyrn Neville and Dave Porecki. It will be fascinating to see how they go.
It would have been easy for Rennie to stick at least one on the bench but he’s shown faith that they won’t be overawed by the situation.
“From a perseverance point of view, it’s a great story. And likewise, Dave Porecki spent a lot of time over at London Irish. We would have picked him last year had he not got injured late.
“It’s great for both those guys and awesome for their families,” Rennie said.
Eddie Jones revealed his 23 for the opening match on Thursday with Courtney Lawes taking the captaincy and a place on the bench for Australian-raised Guy Porter to potentially make his Test debut.
Prediction
There is little chance this fixture will disappoint and with clear and dry conditions expected, the opportunity to play some exciting rugby is there for Wallabies to take up.
No doubt the locals will come at England hard in the opening exchanges, with the visitors relying on precision in the set piece and immense power in the forwards to steady the ship the longer the contest goes and eventually overcome what will be a passionate night for the Wallabies.
Despite the odd-makers leaning the Australians’ way, England look a more polished outfit right now, with the challenge of winning on the road potentially enough to see them snatch a hard-fought win, by what will likely be only a handful of points.
England by 6.
Game Information
Venue: Optus Stadium
Kick-off: 7:55pm (AEST)
Live stream/TV: Stan Sport, Nine Network
Betting: Australia $1.70, England $2.15 – odds via PlayUp
Australia
1. Angus Bell, 2. David Porecki, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 4. Darcy Swain, 5. Cadeyrn Neville, 6. Rob Leota, 7. Michael Hooper (c), 8. Rob Valetini, 9. Nic White, 10. Quade Cooper, 11. Marika Koroibete, 12. Samu Kerevi, 13. Len Ikitau, 14. Andrew Kellaway, 15. Tom Banks
Reserves: 16. Folau Fainga’a, 17. Scott Sio, 18. James Slipper, 19. Matt Philip, 20. Pete Samu, 21. Jake Gordon, 22. Noah Lolesio, 23. Jordan Petaia
England
1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Courtney Lawes (c), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Billy Vunipola, 9. Danny Care, 10. Marcus Smith, 11. Joe Cokanasiga, 12. Owen Farrell, 13. Joe Marchant, 14. Jack Nowell, 15. Freddie Steward
Reserves: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Ollie Chessum, 20. Lewis Ludlam, 21. Jack van Poortvliet, 22. Guy Porter, 23. Henry Arundell,
Double Agent
Guest
Yes!! Sorry.
Loosey
Roar Rookie
Doesn’t stop ABs selecting S. Barrett.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Kerevi kicking in the first half was clearly a tactical move, probably to give him space to run later. EJ would have put a lot of work into SK but not into him kicking! He just got even better!
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
Mr Leg, Kerevi with the kicking boots definitely a tactic and I doubt EJ had planned for that.
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
And was it Harrison who said when Hill was going to the naughty chair to "get the other half of your haircut while you're off" or words to that effect!
Nick Maguire
Roar Rookie
I think it's one of those Lisfranc foot injuries which can go well or go really badly
jameswm
Roar Guru
THat's ok - I think/hope Rennie is bringing in similar standards.
The Late News
Roar Rookie
Yes DA we could fill a good team couldn't we. Our speciality would be the after match festivities!
The Late News
Roar Rookie
He was doing great things at the Force but then they hired Giteau...kinda made Brock feel redundant, so off he went! He later took up coaching and recently moved to NZ as attack coach for Hawkes Bay.
Dandaman
Roar Rookie
We need a reliable goal kicker, no shame in that and as the OP pointed out it helped us win after we leaked those last 2 tries (which was disgraceful).
The Yabbie
Roar Rookie
Hooper yeah right queenslander. Every coach respects him and guys like you who are leagues don’t understand him. Oh rennie biased? Grow up.
Jack
Guest
Other than the lines break that led to the try that won the game.
Jack
Guest
Better to be sucking up to the French than just sucking period like the previous bloke.
Birthday Suit
Roar Rookie
Gotta be careful with satire on The Roar given some of the regular trolls here, but well played ahah
piru
Roar Rookie
He never recovered tbh
piru
Roar Rookie
Pull his mullet instead
piru
Roar Rookie
Watch this space...
piru
Roar Rookie
I've blown game over many times when the clock expired during a conversation attempt. My understanding is that's a stoppage so the game's over
West Aussie Exile
Roar Rookie
I am still buzzing -what a comeback! Ok, we had our usual red card but no intercepts! (unlike Australia A!). Fair play to Noah as normally Farrell would drill all his kicks, we miss one and lose by a point, not this time! We need Kerevi in every test match. Like others, though Hooper, Kellaway. Porecki fantastic. I think Pete Samu was great again -maybe start next time and ask some different questions. I am so pleased for Rennie and players. We'll need to improve to get over the line in Brisbane but I think we can
vonManstein
Roar Rookie
To be fair I've been the beneficiary of several pints from disgruntled poms. Not a bad thing at all!