The final match in the round robin phase of the Four Nations takes place at the Olympic Stadium in London on Sunday and what a match it promises to be as England take on the old enemy Australia in an eagerly anticipated clash.
Australia know that win lose or draw they will be in the final at Anfield next Sunday but for England everything is on the line. They have to avoid defeat to make it to Liverpool to take on Australia. Defeat and it will be the Kiwis who face them in the final.
England
If you summed up England’s first two matches in the tournament in a single word the one you would use is unconvincing. I think the scoreline flattered them a touch against New Zealand in a match where England were predictable and seemingly unwilling to take a risk in attack and against Scotland they laboured for far too long.
Clearly if England are to make it to the final then they are going to have to produce their best display of the tournament and probably their best display for quite a few years but they have had two weeks to prepare for this match knowing full well it would come down to winning this match so it will be interesting to see what they have got.
Australia
If England needed something to take positives from then they got it in the second half from Australia in their win over New Zealand last week. Although they had rested a couple of star names they looked average in that 40 minutes and in the end they were fortunate to hold on and win in Coventry last week.
That may well have served as a wake up call for them and if it has then we can expect to see the best of the Australians in this match too but if they subconsciously save something for the final then they might come unstuck. Generally the bigger the match the better they perform and that is what they will be clinging too here.
Team News
England have named four half backs in their squad for this match which suggests that Wayne Bennett isn’t happy with the control, or lack of it, that he is getting in that position. No clues have been given away about the final 17 but James Graham has been named in the squad and should start.
Australia surprisingly left Cooper Cronk out of the win over New Zealand but he is back in the side for this one. Josh Dugan comes into the side in place of Justin O’Neill too. Sam Thaiday has been named on the bench despite looking to pick up an injury against New Zealand.
Betting
The bookmakers have Australia as the favourites for this match and based on what we’ve seen in the tournament so far that is entirely justified. The Australians are giving up 10pts on the handicap and that is pretty much how I would have it too. Maybe it is a couple of points too high but I certainly wouldn’t want to be going against them.
With that in mind I’m going to take a couple of anytime try scorers for some betting interest in this match and immediately I’m heading straight to Greg Inglis. England’s right hand defence was given a right going over by Scotland last week and it had no answer and if Scotland are tearing it apart Inglis could run all over it. For all of his attacking skill and quality Kallum Watkins’ defensive attributes are poor so odds against on big GI going over is too good to refuse.
I’m also going to take a chance on Elliott Whitehead to go over at a big price. He went over twice last week against Scotland and twice against New Zealand last year when England sealed the Test series against the Kiwis. He is a threat at all times and coming from the NRL he will know who in this Australian side to target with his lung busting bursts. He’s too big to ignore.
Tips
WON – Back G.Inglis to score anytime for a 3/10 stake at 2.30 with Paddy Power
Back E.Whitehead to score anytime for a 2/10 stake at 5.50 with Paddy Power
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