But England would be in pole position given their match-up against whipping-boys Uruguay, in which they would back themselves to get an attacking bonus point.
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Two Dan Biggar penalties, however, got Wales over the line to keep the momentum going after their stunning triumph over England at Twickenham last weekend. “I’ll be quite neutral this weekend”. “Target five tries and if they want to give us penalties in the process, take them too”.
Tom Wood has urged England to summon up the spirit of 2007 as they bid to avoid World Cup woe at Twickenham tonight (Saturday).
Robshaw claims the team had no option but to quickly move on following the heartbreaking defeat, but he acknowledges that they must learn to put the opposition away when they have the chance. “Mr Woodward’s right. I only got 300 out of 500 in my high school certificate”, Cheika said.
“The forwards are such a confrontational part of the game – particularly scrum-time, it’s like an all-eight battle – and when you are on the wrong end of it…they’ll definitely have a few doubts in their mind”.
For Australia the scenario is simple, win and Michael Cheika’s side will have a foot in the quarter-finals before they even meet current table toppers Wales.
Despite being laballed as an “all or nothing” tie, England can still qualify if they draw this evening, though they would have to rely on results going their way elsewhere in Pool A.
Cheika, who can boast a fortune from the fashion business as well as worldwide success as a coach, went on: “Sometimes it’s not intelligence but emotional intelligence that helps in this game – it’s not the IQ (intelligence quotient) it’s the EQ (emotional quotient)”.
The majority of Test matches involving the top teams are not won until around the 75-minute mark and those last 15 or 20 minutes are when your fitness comes to bear and when clear heads are needed.
“That was so tough”, said Wales captain Sam Warburton.
England prop Joe Marler found himself in the spotlight this week after Bob Dwyer, coach of the Australia side that beat England in the 1991 World Cup final, accused him of scrummaging illegally.
“If we can nullify their ability to get over the ball it will change the way the team has to play”.
“I won’t go to the cinema again”.
“We don’t want to come back after the game and be thinking: ‘What if?” The Welsh win means that England have to beat Australia tomorrow evening at Twickenham.
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“It never falls on one man’s shoulders and although all the attention will be on that decision, over the course of the game there’s lots of things we’d have done differently”.
