The QBE Internationals, the time of the year when the elite of
English rugby take to the field in the finest stadium in the world (yes I am
biased) and battle it out against the best teams in the world. There isn’t anything
quite like it and with just a few days to go before the first of the 2013 QBE International
fixtures it is time to get serious and have a little look at England and their
first opponents the Wallabies.
Nothing quite comes close to an
international weekend at Twickenham, the otherwise quiet and unassuming London suburb
comes alive with the sights and smells of English Rugby, The Cabbage Patch fills with supporters and for 12 hours
absolutely nothing else matters other than the rugby. This autumn England face
a huge test of character hosting Australia, Argentina and New Zealand and the
pressure is on with just two years before the home Rugby World Cup. England really
need to stand up and be counted for now because we all know that 2 years is just a
blink of an eye in rugby terms and what happens on the pitch this autumn will
have a significant psychological impact leading into 2015.
Before I dive straight
into the England squad let’s take a little look at our first visitors; the
Wallabies. Australia have been through a tough time recently and often during the press conferences after the games James Horwill looked like he was a man on death row and why? Well, since the
start of the 2013 Rugby Championship his team have conceded 217 points and lost 5
out of their 7 games. However their most recent performances against Argentina and the All Blacks
were significantly better but it is fair to say that Ewen McKenzie would have expected
more from his talented squad. The prospect of turning over England in their own
backyard is one that will certainly bring out the best of Australia and Stuart Lancaster’s
squad will not be underestimating the Wallabies. Quade Cooper has sorted
his head out and is back to his best… Will Genia is as dangerous as ever and as
for Israel Folau, well he is simply an outrageously talented rugby player. Up
front they have some ammunition too with the likes of James Slipper and Stephen
Moore and I’m certain that they are going to bring their A Game this weekend.
As Lawrence Dallalgio rightly
pointed out our England team need to build on their win against the All Blacks
in 2012... that performance has to be the benchmark and the minimum standard for any game that this squad partakes in between now and the 2015 Rugby World Cup
Final (an optimistic view from myself there)! They must also build upon their individual experiences from the 2013 Lions Tour, having had players and coaches out in Australia it is
vital that the lessons learned are transferred and built upon here.
So what weapons
do we have in our armoury to ensure that the Wallabies leave with their tails
between their legs? Well clearly it all depends on Stuart’s match day selection
but if we look at the likely staring 15 we certainly have a lot going for
ourselves.
In the backs you suspect that Marland Yarde will be tearing it up down the wing alongside the rejuvenated Chris Ashton. Marland has a little more in defence than Chris however both are born try scorers who create possibilities out of nothing and have first class finishing skills. At the back we are likely to be in the safe hands of Mike Brown who brings with him a steely competitive edge and a never say die attitude. Personally I'd be perfectly happy with Ben Foden there too, he is back to his very best form and there is hardly anything to choose between the two of them. Now, a lot has been discussed regarding the centre partnership and personally I wouldn’t put my mortgage on getting the selection right, so all that I will say is that that our two centres have huge shoes to fill and will need to be prolific in order to give our XV the impetus to seize the victory. Owen Farrell’s 10 shirt is ready and waiting however his half back partner is slightly less certain, Ben Youngs and Lee Dickson are the front runners… both are play makers with huge work-rates and both will do the job well. Personally I would like to see Lee Dickson handed the starting shirt given his blistering start to the season but we will wait and see!
In the backs you suspect that Marland Yarde will be tearing it up down the wing alongside the rejuvenated Chris Ashton. Marland has a little more in defence than Chris however both are born try scorers who create possibilities out of nothing and have first class finishing skills. At the back we are likely to be in the safe hands of Mike Brown who brings with him a steely competitive edge and a never say die attitude. Personally I'd be perfectly happy with Ben Foden there too, he is back to his very best form and there is hardly anything to choose between the two of them. Now, a lot has been discussed regarding the centre partnership and personally I wouldn’t put my mortgage on getting the selection right, so all that I will say is that that our two centres have huge shoes to fill and will need to be prolific in order to give our XV the impetus to seize the victory. Owen Farrell’s 10 shirt is ready and waiting however his half back partner is slightly less certain, Ben Youngs and Lee Dickson are the front runners… both are play makers with huge work-rates and both will do the job well. Personally I would like to see Lee Dickson handed the starting shirt given his blistering start to the season but we will wait and see!
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| Owen's boot will be critical this Autumn |
Clearly the injury to Alex
Corbisiero is a big blow, his scrummaging proficiency and all around game is unrivaled and we all wish him a speedy recovery. Given Corbs’ knee problem we are
likely to see a double Vunipola representation with Mako wearing the 1 shirt
and Billy wearing 8. Both are huge men, both are in the form of their lives and
both are very, very hungry to put in huge performances for their country. You
would assume that Tom Youngs will orchestrate things from hooker supported by his Leicester team-mate Dan Cole and then
selection gets ‘tasty’ again with Courtney Lawes and Geoff Parling the likely
lock pairing to be joined by Chris Robshaw, Tom Wood at 6 and 7 respectively.
On paper England have a strong XV
and a bench that has a lot of power, the question on everyone’s lips is will
this England squad buil on where they left off against New Zealand or will they
stutter and falter against an angry Australian XV!? It is fair
to say that it is crunch time for Stuart Lancaster and our England squad, it
goes without saying that a huge start to the game is critical and that a
comprehensive win over the Wallabies is the desired outcome. We will have to
wait a few more days to see if this happens or not, so for now let’s enjoy the
anticipation and build up because the international season is a special time, it
only happens once a year and it is something that should be savoured.
