England v Australia: preview, teams and stats
England’s RWC campaign has reached the business end with a quarter final meet against Australia on Saturday.
Mako Vunipola returns at prop for England in the quarter-final clash, while Courtney Lawes is chosen in the second row. Captain Owen Farrell is also named at fly half with Henry Slade picked to start at outside centre.
Jordan Petaia, 19, will play at centre for Australia, Will Genia is preferred to Nic White at scrum-half while David Pocock and Michael Hooper are in the back row.
Kurtley Beale has passed concussion protocols to start at full-back.
- When? Saturday, 19 October
- Kick-off? 8.15am, BST
- Where? Oita, Japan
- Coverage? Live on ITV
Views from the camp
England head coach Eddie Jones: “Once you get to the quarter-finals it’s about having the right mindset. We know how well we can play, it’s about us playing to our strengths and trying to take away from what Australia want.
“Australia are a clever team, they will have some specific attacking strategies to play against us so we need to have a great situational awareness. We need to defend with brutality and when we have the ball we need play on top of them.”
Australia head coach Michael Cheika: “Call me a sucker. I believe in my lads. I know there’s other people who won’t give us much of a chance but I believe that when you believe in yourself you are much closer to being able to create history.
“It’s just about being ready. We’ll be ready, there is no doubt about that. We’ll be precise in what we need to do and physically ready and we’ll be ready to get the job done.”
Previous encounters
- 3 October 2015, England 13 – 33 Australia (Twickenham, London)
- 11 June 2016, Australia 28 – 39 England (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
- 18 June 2016, Australia 7 – 23 England (AAMI Park, Melbourne)
- 25 June 2016, Australia 40 – 44 England (Allianz Stadium, Sydney)
- 3 December 2016, England 37 – 21 Australia (Twickenham, London)
- 18 November 2017, England 30 – 6 Australia (Twickenham, London)
- 24 November 2018, England 37 – 18 Australia (Twickenham, London)
Key stats
England and Australia have met 50 times previously, England have won 24 of those matches with Australia winning 25, a drawn game in 1997 completes the head-to-head record.
England and Australia have clashed before on six occasions in the Rugby World Cup, both sides picking up three wins including a triumph each in the final, Australia beating England in the 1991 showpiece match at Twickenham and England exacting revenge in Sydney in the 2003 final.
2015 marked the first time England failed to reach the knock-out stage of a Rugby World Cup, Australia have achieved this feat in all nine editions of the tournament now, winning six of their eight previous matches at this juncture of the competition (England W4, L3).
England have won their last six Test matches against Australia, their longest ever winning run against their antipodean rivals, their last defeat against them came at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
England averaged 29 kicks in play per game during the pool stage, the most of any team, Australia meanwhile averaged the fewest (13).
Player landmarks
England’s Maro Itoje won seven turnovers in the pool stages, the most of any player in the competition, despite playing just two games.
Jonny May will win his 50th cap for England on Saturday, he sits in sixth spot on England’s try-scoring list with 25 tries to his name, two of those tries have come in World Cup matches (v Wales in 2015, v Argentina in 2019).
Luke Cowan-Dickie has scored a try in each of his three Rugby World Cup games, only Will Greenwood has scored in more consecutive games at the tournament for England (4 in 2003).
Australia’s Samu Kerevi beat 20 defenders across three appearances in the pool stage, the most of any centre in the competition and more than England’s top two exponents in the centres combined (Manu Tuilagi 9, Jonathan Joseph 8).
Adam Ashley-Cooper is set to make his 20th Rugby World Cup appearance if he features in this match, equalling the most World Cup caps for Australia (George Gregan), meanwhile Bernard Foley needs 15 points to become the fourth Australian to score 100 Rugby World Cup points.
Teams
England
Elliot Daly; Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marler, Dan Cole, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, George Ford, Jonathan Joseph.
Australia
Kurtley Beale, Reece Hodge, Jordan Petaia, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Christian Lealiifano, Will Genia, Allan Alaalatoa, Tolu Latu, Scott Sio, Rory Arnold, Izack Rodda, Isi Naisarani, Michael Hooper (c), David Pocock
Reserves: Jordan Uelese, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Adam Coleman, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Nic White, Matt To’omua, James O’Connor
Related topics
- Attack
- T - Tries
- M - Metres carried
- C - Carries
- DB - Defenders beaten
- CB - Clean breaks
- P - Passes
- O - Offloads
- TC - Turnovers conceded
- TA - Try assists
- PTS - Points
- Defence
- Tackles - Tackles
- MT - Missed tackles
- TW - Turnovers won
- Kicking
- K - Kicks in play
- C - Conversions
- PG - Penalty goals
- DG - Drop goals
- Set plays
- TW - Throws won
- LW - Lineouts won
- LS - Lineout steals
- Discipline
- PC - Penalties conceded
- RC - Red cards
- YC - Yellow cards
England through to Rugby World Cup semi-final
England are through to the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup after defeating Australia in Oita.
Eddie Jones’ side sealed a seventh-successive victory over Australia, scoring four tries in a 40-16 win over the Wallabies.
They will now face either New Zealand or Ireland in the last four of the tournament in Japan, following their fourth victory in Japan.
England led 17-9 at the break, two tries from Jonny May and nine points from the boot of Owen Farrell giving them an eight-point advantage while Christian Lealiifano kicked three Australia penalties.
Australia scored a second-half try through Marika Koroibete, but tries from Kyle Sinckler and Anthony Watson, as well as a further 11 points from Farrell, secured victory.
Magic May
Australia made a fast start going through 18 phases inside two minutes and despite threatening, England’s defence was disciplined and Manu Tuilagi eventually disrupted the attack and alleviated the pressure.
The Wallabies had the first points of the game on 10 minutes, Lealiifano sending over a penalty following a high tackle from Billy Vunipola.
But England had the first try of the game, May going over in the corner after a clinical attack gave the Leicester flyer room on the left wing to cross.
For May it was a 26th try in 50 caps in what has been a stellar year for the wing, crossing eight times for his country in 2019.
A second followed a minute later, May again the man to dot down, Henry Slade showing great awareness to kick through and the wing won the foot race to score.
Lealiifano’s penalty reduced the deficit to 14-6, and although Farrell extended that lead, a further Wallabies kick took the score to 17-9 at the break.
Superb Sinckler
Marika Koroibete seared down the left wing to cross for a first Australia try shortly after the restart, showing blistering pace to score having initially taken the ball on halfway and Lealiifano converted for 17-16.
But Sinckler cut a fine line off Farrell’s flat pass to break the Australia defence on the 22m line and he crossed for a third England try.
For Sinckler it was a first international try for his country, in his first Rugby World Cup as he continued to add to his growing reputation.
Dominant defence
Farrell’s penalty on 50 minutes took the score to 27-17 and a key defensive set on the hour kept Australia at bay in what was a crucial phase of the match.
Two further Farrell penalties gave England a 17-point lead as the side kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Watson's intercepted try late on helped seal victory and Farrell added gloss to performance with his fourth conversion and 20th point of the game.
This was a victory as much built on defence as it was attack, England making 181 tackles compared to Australia's 78 with man of the match Tom Curry at the heart of that.
What next?
England will now turn their attention to a semi-final against either New Zealand or Ireland in Yokohama at 09:00am, live on ITV. They last defeated New Zealand on 1 December 2012.
Teams
England
Elliot Daly; Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes; Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Billy Vunipola.
Finishers: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marler, Dan Cole, George Kruis, Lewis Ludlam, Willi Heinz, George Ford, Jonathan Joseph.
Australia
Kurtley Beale, Reece Hodge, Jordan Petaia, Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Christian Lealiifano, Will Genia, Allan Alaalatoa, Tolu Latu, Scott Sio, Rory Arnold, Izack Rodda, Isi Naisarani, Michael Hooper (c), David Pocock.
Reserves: Jordan Uelese, James Slipper, Taniela Tupou, Adam Coleman, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Nic White, Matt To’omua, James O’Connor.
