Australia vs. Wales: Preview, Live Stream and TV Info for RWC 2015 Game
Wales and Australia go to battle on Saturday for the right to top Pool A in the Rugby World Cup 2015. The Pool winners will avoid South Africa in the quarter-finals and play either Scotland or Japan, so the carrot is sizeable for both sides.
Warren Gatland’s squad is still carrying a number of injuries and have a poor record against the Wallabies. You have to go back 11 games between the two to find a Welsh victory, a 21-18 win in Cardiff, Wales, in 2008, which is only their second success against Australia in 10 years.
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Australia, having dumped hosts England out, have seen their odds slashed to win the tournament after one of the most complete displays put on at Twickenham for many a year.
Powerful in the scrum, smothering in defence and rapier sharp in their back line, Michael Cheika’s men have put the other major contenders on notice that they are here to take back the trophy they last won in 1999 in Wales' back yard.
It’s been a quick turnaround from the wreckage of Ewen McKenzie’s final few weeks in charge, with Michael Cheika’s team producing the best scrum Australia have had in eons and the return of superstar Matt Giteau adding vast nous and skill to his three-quarter line.
Wales have defied a mountain of injuries to win all three games so far, and they will need to produce a similar performance to the last 20 minutes against England to match the standards set by the Wallabies at Twickenham.
The matchup of the two head coaches brings together two men with impressive CVs stocked with domestic titles, Grand Slams and Heineken Cups, and the mutual appreciation has been flowing in the build-up to this meeting, per WalesOnline.
Match details
Date: Saturday, October 10
Time: 4:45 p.m. BST/11:45 a.m. EST
Venue: Twickenham
TV Info: UK, ITV1; Australia, Fox SPORTS; NZ, SkySports; South Africa, SuperSports
Live Stream: ITV Player (UK only), Universal Sports (US only)
Last five matches
Both sides have reached the finale of their pool by conquering England, Fiji and Uruguay. For Australia, their only defeat in their last eight games has been to the All Blacks, and that sequence has featured wins over the World Champions and South Africa.
They have gradually slipped up the gears, culminating in that performance at Twickenham last weekend. They will only hope they haven't peaked too soon.
Wales finished their warm-up campaign with wins over Ireland and Italy and have shown plenty of character to overcome England and Fiji with a horror list of casualties to deal with.
It was last-man-standing stuff against England, and a short turnaround forced them to go through what skipper Sam Warburton described as one of the hardest games of his career, per BBC.co.uk
| October 3 | England 13-33 Australia |
| September 27 | Australia 65-3 Uruguay |
| September 23 | Australia 28-13 Fiji |
| September 5 | USA 10-47 Australia |
| August 15 | New Zealand 41-13 Australia |
| October 1 | Wales 13-13 Fiji |
| September 26 | England 25-28 Wales |
| September 20 | Wales 54-9 Uruguay |
| September 5 | Wales 23-19 Italy |
| August 29 | Ireland 10-16 Wales |
Team lineups
Wales will field another new face at full-back in Gareth Anscombe, who was drafted into the squad after the injury rash that followed Wales’ win over England.
Elsewhere, they have brought Liam Williams back from his concussion-induced rest to fill in on the wing, with George North forming a hulking centre partnership with Jamie Roberts.
In the pack, Wales will fight fire with fire with two opensides in Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric up against David Pocock and Sean McMahon, who comes in for the suspended Michael Hooper.
Israel Folau has passed his fitness test and will start at full-back with Drew Mitchell replacing the injured Peter Horne on the wing. Wales have also changed their props, with Samson Lee and Paul James both starting.
Australia: Israel Folau; Adam Ashley-Cooper, Tevita Kuridrani, Matt Giteau, Drew Mitchell; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Kane Douglas, Dean Mumm, Scott Fardy, Sean McMahon, David Pocock
Wales: Gareth Anscombe; Alex Cuthbert, George North, Jamie Roberts, Liam Williams; Dan Biggar Gareth Davies; Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris, Alun Wyn Jones, Sam Warburton, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau
Players to watch
Sean McMahon
McMahon has big shoes to fill when he assumes Michael Hooper’s No. 7 jersey. But the 21-year-old made an impressive World Cup debut against Uruguay and will not lack confidence slotting into an experienced unit around him.
Chris Dutton of the Sydney Morning Herald wrote:
"McMahon has been banging down the door for more Test game time, but the presence of Hooper and Pocock has limited his opportunities. ‘He was here on his first Wallaby tour last year and we saw from the outset the guy was really up for it,’ Hooper said of McMahon. ‘Really keen to get in and show what he's worth. He's shown that in the games against the US and Uruguay with how much he's bringing to the team and what people don't see is what's on the training paddock.’
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With the likes of Jamie Roberts and George North, as well as Wales locks and No. 8 Taulupe Faletau to take down, McMahon's ability to do what Hooper does so well will come under its sternest test yet in a Wallaby jersey.
Wales' props
Paul James replaces Gethin Jenkins at loosehead and has the task of succeeding where Jo Marler failed against Sekope Kepu.
Warren Gatland has highlighted Jenkins' penchant for picking up injuries if he plays too many games in a row for the reason behind his dropping, per WalesOnline.
So James gets his chance to impress. Marler was pinged for angling in against the Australian tighthead, so keep an eye on James' hips when he packs down. He will need to keep them straight and withstand the pressure from Kepu's right shoulder as he attempts to split apart the Welsh No. 1 and his hooker.
On the Welsh tighthead, Samson Lee makes his first start in place of Tomas Francis. Lee loves nothing more than to attack at scrum time, and this side was an area England had a bit more success in against the Wallabies, with Scott Sio scrummaging with his legs a long way behind him and risking collapse.
If Lee can identify his opposite man's foot positioning, he can apply his weight directly onto Sio's shoulders and the Australian will have but one place to go.
Wales will know that if their props can win these battles anywhere in the Australian half, Dan Biggar has the length to convert their dominance into points.
Prediction
Australia by less than 10
Odds
Australia 7/18
Wales 11/4
Draw 25/1
Via oddschecker
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