England vs. Uruguay: Preview, Live Stream and TV Info for RWC 2015 Game

The party no one wants to go to will take place at the Etihad Stadium tonight when England bring the curtain down on a miserable World Cup campaign.

As the post-mortem continues into how they managed to turf themselves out of their own tournament at the earliest available opportunity, England’s much-maligned players have to take to the field to complete the formalities against Uruguay, before they can head for the fancy dress shop and stock up on decent disguises.

It’s a fixture with echoes of England’s footballing counterparts’ dead rubber with San Marino in 1993. World Cup progress was virtually dead in the water but Graham Taylor’s men had to travel to the principality to finish the group.

Even then the embarrassment wasn’t complete until they shipped a first-minute goal.

Chris Robshaw’s men must avoid that fate at least. Los Teros have the taste after crossing the stripe for the first time since doing so against Clive Woodward’s team in 2003.

In truth, few will care about the score, and most will afford any standout performances little value, given the stature of the opposition.

This should have been a game for England’s fringe players to stretch their legs before the front-line troops returned for the knockout phases.

And although we will get to see the likes of Henry Slade and Jack Nowell for the first time in the World Cup, their job is now to sign off on what could be the end of Stuart Lancaster’s reign.

If this is his last game in charge, he can at least reflect on the players brought through under his reign, with a bright future awaiting those two and many more young talents given their first caps by the Cumbrian.

There ends tonight’s reasons to be cheerful. This will be like watching a dentist pull a tooth. It will be painful, but soon at an end.

Match details

Date: Saturday, October 10

Time: 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. EST

Venue: The Etihad, Manchester

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

England’s World Cup campaign started with maximum points against Fiji before being ripped apart by consecutive defeats to Wales and Australia, handing them their worst World Cup finish on record and the unwanted tag of the first hosts to exit at the pool stage.

Uruguay have been tossed around like a dog toy by their first three opponents in a hellishly difficult pool.

Their World Cup final came against Russia in a two-leg qualifier that booked their passage to England. Heavily one-sided thrashings have been notable by the vast reduction in their instances in the 2015 World Cup, but the South Americans remain one of the few sides with a vast gap to close.

Team lineups

England have rung the changes to give six players their first start of the tournament. The lineup includes yet another fresh midfield combination with Henry Slade and Owen Farrell outside George Ford.

It is Slade around whom England could build their next successful centre partnership. Before the tournament, Dean Ryan prophetically proclaimed in the Guardian that the Exeter man would not get a look-in until this fixture, but he was at pains to extol the 22-year-old’s qualities after branding him the star turn of England’s warm-up matches.

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The attraction of Henry Slade is there for all to see. He plays 10, 12, 13 and full-back, has a kick like a mule and can pass a player into space like no one else in the England World Cup party, bar George Ford. In that first warm-up game against France Slade caused panic in French ranks every time he touched the ball. On debut for England he looked the most mature back on the field, creating one try with ice-cool judgment and a precision pass while crafting a second as stand-in fly-half. Most countries would kill for such talent.

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Uruguay have made just two changes from their defeat to Fiji, and are buoyed by the inclusion of scrum-half Agustin Ormachea despite his red card for a second yellow card offence in their previous match.

England: Alex Goode; Anthony Watson, Henry Slade, Owen Farrell, Jack Nowell; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling, James Haskell, Chris Robshaw, Nick Easter

Uruguay: Gaston Mieres; Santiago Gibernau, Joaquin Prada, Andres Vilaseca, Rodrigo Silva; Felipe Berchesi, Agustin Ormaechea, Alejandro Nieto; Matias Beer, Juan Manuel Gaminara, Jorge Zerbino, Santiago Vilaseca, Mario Sagario, Carlos Arboleya, Mateo Sanguinetti

Players to watch

George Ford

This should be armchair stuff for England’s reinstated No. 10. Ford was inexplicably dropped for England’s games against Wales and Australia.

And while there were others to point the finger at before Owen Farrell, his replacement, the Bath man’s contribution once he came on against the Wallabies was notable for the way England suddenly started using the ball in space rather than bashing it into the waiting arms of David Pocock.

It would be scant consolation for the former Leicester youngster if he racked up a record points haul against the Pool A whipping boys.

Uruguay’s half-backs

Felipe Berchesi and Agustin Ormaechea are in the paid minority in the Uruguayan team, both playing in France below the top flight.

Berchesi has a cultured boot and will capitalise on opportunities should England bleed penalties in the way they managed against their last two opponents, while his colleague in the No. 9 jersey would dearly love to add to his own family’s proud history.

His father Diego scored their first ever World Cup try against Spain in 1999.

Prediction

England by 50 points

Odds

England 1/100

Uruguay 100/1

Draw 125/1

Via oddschecker