Those Tests in South America have certainly given the Wallabies some rich intelligence ahead of the Test in London, but Borthwick\u2019s decision to back the same players in search of a faster November start has also created a window of opportunity for the Wallabies.<\/p>\n
As good a young prop as Baxter is \u2013 and he\u2019s only 23 \u2013 England lose something by not starting Genge (and Stuart likewise). If Taniela Tupou wants to be known as a world-class prop, this is the time to deliver.<\/p>\n
The Wallabies have an advantage out of the blocks in the back row. Rob Valetini\u2019s recent form has been a bit scratchy, but he has a chance to impose himself at Twickenham and Ford\u2019s defensive frailties make him the obvious target for the Wallabies\u2019 heavier ball runners.<\/p>\n
The flipside is that England\u2019s strong bench will, in theory, make sure they come home with the wind at their backs. Flankers Tom Curry and Henry Pollock are potential game changers, while back-up No.10 Fin Smith is a class act who can defend as well as he can attack.<\/p>\n
But the Wallabies have the ability to start the Test well and if they are capable of putting some scoreboard pressure on England they can take the Twickenham factor out of the Test \u2013 or even turn it against their hosts.<\/p>\n
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The Wallabies\u2019 selection omission that did come as a surprise was the omission of Ben Donaldson. The Western Force playmaker has seemingly plunged well down the pecking order but is still a player I believe can offer value at the highest level.<\/p>\n
Carlo Tizzano is similarly unlucky after proving emphatically this year that he is Test quality, but he might have paid an indirect price for the injury to Tate McDermott.<\/p>\n
The Reds\u2019 halfback absence has arguably reduced the Wallabies bench flexibility and capacity to go with a 6-2 split, with McDermott showing against the Lions that he is a legitimate option to cover the wing position if needed.<\/p>\n
For all the talk of missing Len Ikitau, Will Skelton, Tom Hooper and James O\u2019Connor \u2013 and my view is that if you organise a Test outside the World Rugby release window you know what you\u2019re signing up for \u2013 it is the combined unavailability of Nic White (retired) and McDermott (injured) that the Wallabies are taking a bit of time to adjust to.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a big Test for Jake Gordon. It would be great to see him attacking around the fringes like he did in the second Test against the Lions. If the Wallabies can create those sorts of opportunities for the halfback and get off to a good start, it\u2019ll be Borthwick\u2019s selections that feel the pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those Tests in South America have certainly given the Wallabies some rich intelligence ahead of the Test in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-254729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}