Preview: Australia vs England
Everything you need to know ahead of England's clash with Australia on Saturday.
Courtney Lawes will captain the side that sees the returns of Danny Care, Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell to the starting lineup. Farrell comes back into the fold for the first time since England's most recent victory over the Wallabies in November 2021, while Care earns his first international appearance since 2018 and Vunipola his first since the 2021 Six Nations. There are also potential debuts off the bench for the trio of Guy Porter, Jack van Poortvliet and Henry Arundell.
Dave Rennie has opted for a very Brumbies-heavy side for the first Test. There are debuts for both 33-year-old lock Caderyn Neville, who becomes the third-oldest debutant since World War ll, and hooker David Porecki. Michael Hooper will once again captain the side while Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete all return after missing the Autumn internationals. Nic White partners with Cooper at halfback in an experienced 9-10 combination.
Australia currently sit sixth in the world rankings one place behind England in fifth after a year that featured many ups and downs. Rennie's team managed to secure back-to-back victories against the world champion Springboks but followed it up with three consecutive losses to Bledisloe Cup rivals New Zealand. In total they secured seven victories and seven losses from 2021 with a mixed bag of performances.
Meanwhile England will be hoping for an improvement on their recent 52-21 defeat to the Barbarians in their preparation game for this tour. However, Eddie Jones' side head to Australia for the first time since their 3-0 Test series win in 2016 bolstered by the knowledge they are on their longest win streak against this opposition with eight consecutive victories against the Wallabies.
England have only managed to win on Australian soil a total of six times and will face a Dave Rennie side determined to put a stop to their recent run of results by securing victory against the English for the first time since the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Teams
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Jack Nowell, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Owen Farrell, 11. Joe Cokanasiga, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Danny Care, 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George, 3. Will Stuart, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. Courtney Lawes (C), 7. Tom Curry, 8. Billy Vunipola.
Finishers
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Joe Heyes, 19. Ollie Chessum, 20. Lewis Ludlam, 21. Jack van Poortlviet, 22. Guy Porter, 23. Henry Arundell.
Australia
15. Tom Banks, 14. Andrew Kellaway, 13. Len Ikitau, 12. Samu Kerevi, 11. Marika Koroibete, 10. Quade Cooper, 9. Nic White, 1. Angus Bell, 2. David Porecki, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 4. Darcy Swain, 5. Caderyn Neville, 6. Rob Leota, 7. Michael Hooper (C), 8. Rob Valetini.
Replacements
16. Folau Fainga’a, 17. Scott Sio, 18. James Slipper, 19. Matt Philip, 20. Pete Samu, 21. Jake Gordon, 22. Noah Lolesio, 23. Jordan Petaia.
Views from camp
Jonny Hill: "They've got some good players in key positions; Nic White, Quade Cooper, Samu Kerevi. White has done really well after going back to Australia, he's moved them on as a country.
"If you want to beat a good side you've got to beat them at what they're good at so they're going to be aiming to do that. Whether they do it or not who knows? But watching the Brumbies play throughout the season and from what I've seen, their maul has been really impressive so we're going to have to be right on it.
"For us it's about us starting fast. If we start fast they'll be thinking number nine is on the way maybe, but from my point of view I've only played in one of those eight games so as a pack and a team we just want to set the tone for the series. If they're good enough on Saturday they'll win, I don't think the records matter on the day. We'll give them all the respect they deserve by going flat out. I'm expecting the best version of the Wallabies over the next three weeks. We've prepared very well and we're ready for the challenge."
Jack Nowell: "The way you get back into the England side is by playing well for your club so the first thing I was thinking about was getting back for Exeter. For me it's never a given to be here, I quite like it like that, it keeps me more grounded.
"I'm looking forward to playing Nic White. Everyone goes on about how involved he is all the time but I've only seen that from him being part of our team, his aggression, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it's like playing against that.
"Winning is the thing that made the 2016 tour so good. The last Test was one of the big ones I remember because it would've been very easy for us to sit back a bit and there were plenty of times where we were camped on our own line for about 10 or 20 minutes, managing to win that game was big."
Previous encounters
13 November 2021: England 32-15 Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London
19 October 2019: England 40-16 Australia - Oita Stadium, Oita, Japan
24 November 2018: England 37-18 Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London
18 November 2017: England 30-6 Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London
3 December 2016: England 37-21 Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London
25 June 2016: Australia 40-44 England - Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
18 June 2016: Australia 7-23 England - Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne
11 June 2016: Australia 28-39 England - Lang Park, Brisbane
3 October 2015: England 13-33 Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London
29 November 2014: England 26-17 Australia - Twickenham Stadium, London
Key stats
England have won their last eight competitive matches against Australia, their longest streak to date against the Wallabies.
Australia's last victory against England came in the 2015 World Cup group stage in a 33-13 victory for the Wallabies that knocked England out of the competition.
England and Australia have played a total of 52 matches over the course of the 113 year history of the fixture with Australia winning 25 and England winning 26 and one draw between the teams.
England have only managed to win in Australia on 6 occasions, the first coming back in 2003, with the 2016 Summer tour being the first and only time an English side has secured a series win on Australian soil.
Australia won seven of their 14 matches in 2021 in a run that included back-to-back victories over the Worlc champion Springboks. However, they have lost their last three internationals to Scotland, England and Wales.
Michael Hooper captains the Wallabies for the 66th time while Quade Cooper returns to the side for the first time since last October's fixture with Japan.
Australia still hold the record for England's largest ever Test defeat as the Wallabies claimed a 76-0 victory in Brisbane in 1998.
