England’s Will Carling, centre white jersey, is caught by Australia’s Michael Lynagh, centre right, during the Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham (1991)
Sunday, 3:00am
England v Wales
H 1.33, D 26, A 4.3
England and Wales rolled the dice with their inside backs and front row respectively for their crunch Rugby World Cup match tomorrow (Sunday, 3am) at Twickenham.
With Australia in their Pool A, one of the three rugby heavyweights will not qualify for the quarterfinals, making their series of three matches mouth-watering. This is the first.
England dropped the biggest surprise by demoting flyhalf George Ford and recalling Owen Farrell to start. Ford has been Stuart Lancaster’s preferred flyhalf since last November’s home tests, and was the inspiration for England’s new, bold approach in the Six Nations. Sam Burgess, who switched from rugby league only 11 months ago, was at No. 12, and Brad Barritt at No. 13 in a combination that looks like a wall, but also has the pace of one.
Meanwhile, Wales has starting tighthead prop Tomas Francis less than a month after he made his debut. Samson Lee and loosehead Paul James suffered calf injuries in the win over Uruguay last weekend, and Lee recovered to make the reserves, while James didn’t.
Francis, born in England and qualified for Wales through a grandmother, debuted in the warm-up win over Ireland in Dublin on Aug. 29. At white-hot Twickenham, he will make his fourth start in his fifth test. Filling in for James will be Gethin Jenkins, who will play in his fourth Rugby World Cup. He’s backed up by Aaron Jarvis, who popped a rib cartilage against Uruguay but passed fit.
England hinted at its changes two days before the team announcement on Thursday. Two were forced by injuries to outside center Jonathan Joseph and No. 8 Ben Morgan, who injured a pectoral muscle and knee respectively in the tournament-opening win against Fiji last Friday, and also may not be available for the third pool match against Australia.
Ford’s was signaled, but still a jaw-dropper. He appears to have paid for only a solid performance against Fiji, and was in the reserves.
His father, Mike Ford, also the coach of Bath, said the flyhalf was “devastated” at his demotion.
“Of course George was down when he was told which way they were going to go, after having led the line over the last year,” Mike Ford told the Daily Telegraph.
“Having a setback like that is all about how you respond to it. You want players to be emotional about it because that shows they care. George will absolutely respond in the right way.”
Burgess has replaced his Bath clubmate Joseph for his first start in a competitive match.
Billy Vunipola, who scored the last-gasp bonus-point try against Fiji, was in at No. 8 for Morgan.
James Haskell and Alex Goode were in the reserves to cover the loose forwards and outside backs respectively.
Wales recalled its stars amid 10 changes from the side which beat Uruguay 54-9 in Cardiff in its Cup opener last weekend.
Having endured a miserable run of injuries in the past month, the Welsh were sweating most of all on props Lee and James, and could only recover Lee.
The rest of the lineup was as expected.
Lock Alun Wyn Jones was over a knee ligament complaint from the warm-up win over Ireland in Dublin last month to pack down with Bradley Davies.
Captain Sam Warburton was reforming Wales’ most capped back row with Dan Lydiate and Taulupe Faletau for the 26th time, and Dan Biggar was at flyhalf.
Scrumhalf Mike Phillips, sitting on 99 test caps, couldn’t break into the 23, and Jamie Roberts and Scott Williams were in midfield.
George North was on the right wing, and Hallam Amos on the left, ahead of British Lion Alex Cuthbert. Amos, who turned 21 yesterday, received only a third start in his fifth test.
Liam Williams was at fullback after suffering a dead leg against Uruguay. Foster Niumata, London, AP / Oddschecker.com
Lineups
England: Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Brad Barritt, Sam Burgess, Jonny May, Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Billy Vunipola, Chris Robshaw (captain), Tom Wood, Courtney Lawes, Geoff Parling, Dan Cole, Tom Youngs, Joe Marler. Reserves: Rob Webber, Mako Vunipola, Kieran Brookes, Joe Launchbury, James Haskell, Richard Wigglesworth, George Ford, Alex Goode.
Wales: Liam Williams, George North, Scott Williams, Jamie Roberts, Hallam Amos, Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Taulupe Faletau, Sam Warburton (captain), Dan Lydiate, Alun Wyn Jones, Bradley Davies, Tomas Francis, Scott Baldwin, Gethin Jenkins. Reserves: Ken Owens, Aaron Jarvis, Samson Lee, Luke Charteris, Justin Tipuric, Lloyd Williams, Rhys Priestland, Alex Cuthbert.
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