England vs. Argentina
England put their 12-game winning run under Eddie Jones on the line against Argentina at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon. According to Jones, the Argentinian side is likely to offer the toughest test to England’s defence this autumn. Bold words directed at a side that came bottom of this year’s Rugby Championship.
An added perspective to this game is the battle for World Rugby rankings ahead of the draw for the 2019 World Cup. Argentina are seeking to preserve their top eight status to ensure they don’t fall into the third seeds grouping.
Teams
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jonny May, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Courtney Lawes, 5 George Kruis, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 Tom Wood, 8 Billy Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te’o, 23 Henry Slade
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Matias Orlando, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Juan Martin Hernandez, 9 Tomas Cubelli; 1 Lucas Noguera, 2 Agustin Creevy, 3 Ramiro Herrera, 4 Guido Petti, 5 Matias Alemanno, 6 Pablo Matera, 7 Javier Ortega Desio, 8 Leonardo Senatore
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya, 17 Santiago Garcia Botta, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Facundo Isa, 20 Tomas Lezana, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Jeronimo De La Fuente, 23 Juan Pablo Estelles
Odds
Ireland vs. Australia
Ireland were left battered and bruised following their defeat to New Zealand last week and much of this week has been spent recuperating. They could have made it back-to-back wins over the All Blacks, had they shown more composure in their finishing and some decisions had gone their way, but they were by no means disgraced.
Michael Cheika was able to rest a number of first-choice players last week as they left France with a narrow victory. Australia have won three in a row in Europe as their poor domestic season is slowly forgotten. They’ll want to keep up their momentum ahead of their clash against England at Twickenham next weekend.
Teams
Ireland: 15 Rob Kearney, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Jared Payne, 12 Garry Ringrose, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray; 1 Jack McGrath, 2 Rory Best, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Iain Henderson, 5 Devin Toner, 6 CJ Stander, 7 Sean O’Brien, 8 Jamie Heaslip
Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Josh van der Flier, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Simon Zebo
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Reece Hodge, 11 Henry Speight, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia; 1 Scott Sio, 2 Stephen Moore, 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Rory Arnold, 5 Rob Simmons, 6 Dean Mumm, 7 Michael Hooper, 8 David Pocock
Odds
Wales vs. South Africa
Both Rob Howley and Allister Coetzee head into this game under pressure. Howley, standing in for Warren Gatland, has overseen two wins and a defeat this autumn, but the performances have been poor. They’ve struggled for fluency and consistency and they had to rely on a late Sam Davies’ drop goal to defeat Japan last week.
South Africa on the other hand are in turmoil and Coetzee has turned to youth for this weekend’s game. He’s faced criticism from all comers, following their poor results this year. It’s worrying times for the Springboks as another disappointing result this weekend could leave them facing a tough pool for the 2019 World Cup.
Teams
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Scott Williams, 11 Liam Williams, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Gareth Davies; 1 Gethin Jenkins, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Luke Charteris, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 6 Dan Lydiate, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Ross Moriarty
Replacements: 16 Scott Baldwin, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Samson Lee, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Taulupe Faletau, 21 Lloyd Williams, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Jamie Roberts
South Africa: 15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Jamba Ulengo, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Nizaam Carr, 7 Uzair Cassiem, 8 Warren Whiteley
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Jean-Luc du Preez, 21 Piet van Zyl, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lionel Mapoe
Odds
France vs. New Zealand
Historical precedence has led to New Zealand talking up the “unpredictable” French, but that could be misplaced as they’ve been less unpredictable and generally poor for a number of years. The All Blacks arrive in Paris aiming to end a record-breaking year with a win.
Les Bleus will be aiming to spoil the party for their opposition and avenge their ignominious 62-13 defeat in last year’s World Cup quarter final. They came within a drop goal of beating Australia last week, but the All Blacks are a step up in quality from the Wallabies and this will prove a very difficult encounter for Guy Noves’ side.
Teams
France: 15. Brice Dulin, 14 Noa Nakaitaci, 13 Remi Lamerat, 12 Wesley Fofana, 11 Virimi Vakatawa, 10 Camille Lopez, 9 Maxime Machenaud; 1 Xavier Chiocci, 2 Guilhem Guirado, 3 Uini Atonio, 4 Sebastien Vahaamahina, 5 Yoann Maestri, 6 Charles Ollivon, 7 Kevin Gourdon, 8 Louis Picamoles
Replacements: Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Julien Le Devedec, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Jean-Marc Doussain, 23 Gael Fickou
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Waisake Naholo, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara; 1 Joe Moody, 2 Dane Coles, 3 Owen Franks, 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Sam Whitelock, 6 Jerome Kaino, 7 Matt Todd, 8 Kieran Read
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Rieko Ioane
Odds