Previews

England aim to cause shock

Author: John Harris
Date: 20/11/2009
Rugby Union betting

The autumn internationals swing back into action at the weekend with the home nations taking to the field once again.

On a positive note, all four of our teams remained undefeated from the weekend's fixtures, with three wins and a draw between them.

Things could be a bit different this time round with many of the world's super forces returning to British and Irish soil.

England's hastily constructed team beat Argentina 16-9 on Saturday and team boss Martin Johnson came in for more criticism.

The game was locked at 9-9 with just ten minutes remaining before the intervention of Bath wing Matt Banahan.

He crossed the whitewash to put the hosts in the lead and the effervescent Toulon fly-half Jonny Wilkinson landed the extras to secure the win at Twickenham.

However, it must be noted that Johnson has a debilitating and crippling injury list in front of him, which has to be taken into consideration.

His team will face a stern challenge this time out when they face the might of world ranked number two side New Zealand.

Ireland performed admirably at Croke Park on Sunday as captain Brian O'Driscoll, making his 100th appearance, scored a last-gasp try against Australia to cap a memorable occasion.

Ronan O'Gara converted to grab a 20-20 draw against the Wallabies and they face Fiji at the Royal Dublin Society, home of Leinster, on Saturday.

The Six Nations champions looked dull and tired for long spells at the weekend and now coach Declan Kidney will be hoping to add some vigour into his troops.

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Scotland face the daunting prospect of tackling Australia following their 23-10 weekend success against Fiji.

New coach Andy Robinson celebrated his first win in charge but the visitors from Down Under will prove to be a tougher nut to crack.

Wales must improve against Argentina if they are to claim another victory this weekend.

They scraped to a 17-13 win at the Millennium Stadium against big-hitting Samoa but it looked at times as though the South Sea Islanders would cross to clinch a famous win only for the hosts to hold on.

Elsewhere, France, who are the sportsbook favourites to claim Six Nations glory in the spring, take on Samoa at Stade de France in Paris, while Italy face a difficult task in the form of world champions South Africa, who travel to the Stadio Friuli.

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