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Test Rugby preview: England to prove too strong for Robbie's boys

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The Wallabies are set to for a largely successful spring tour, but England will be too good at Twickenham, writes Andy Morris.

Privately, Robbie Deans may concede that a spring tour with just one defeat can be viewed a success. The Wallabies, who have only had the Hong Kong test against the All Blacks as preparation for their tour, face a set of countries who are well into their domestic seasons.

It's always tough for Australia in these circumstances to pull off a Grand Slam of victories, and recent stats show that in the last decade they have only won twice in six meetings at Twickenham.

Both those wins were narrow affairs - by a single point in 1998 and 21-19 in 2004. But the most recent meeting in London was a 26-16 loss three years ago.

It's true that the Wallabies have enjoyed two big wins over England in recent times, the 43-18 victory in Melbourne coming less than a week after a 34-3 embarrassment in Sydney. Away from Australia, though, the form all belongs to England who of course inflicted that 12-10 win over them in the World Cup quarter-finals 13 months ago in Marseille.

Loose forward Hugh McMeniman is one of the survivors of that match for the Wallabies, when his pack was pummelled by England. He recalled: "The last two times we've played them, they've got over us in that kind of area, so it's where we've got to step up."

But this time the Wallabies will be coming up against mostly fresh faces, with only veterans Phil Vickery and Andy Sheridan in the front row being familiar to them.

The fact there are so many changes from when the sides last met suggests history might not be too much of a factor in this game.

If they can win the battle of the packs - and they certainly did well against the All Blacks in Hong Kong - then possibly Australia stands a chance, but it is not all they have to do to win. In exciting young flyhalf Danny Cipriani, they face a man in great form as he scored 19 points against the Pacific Islands last weekend.

One thing the Wallabies must concentrate on is eliminating mistakes. They made elementary errors under pressure against Italy last week, with kicks going out on the full, passes going astray and options being rushed.

The absences of Berrick Barnes and Timana Tahu through injury should not affect the Wallabies too much as Robbie Deans is basically playing his first-choice team for what will undoubtedly be their biggest test of the tour.

He believes the pack will fare well this time, and said: "If you examine our performances this year, the scrum has been a great launching pad."

I believe this will be a close match but that England will have a slight edge in the forwards and be able to exploit that with their speedy backs. So I suggest a bet on England in < href="http://sports.betfair.com/Index.do?mi=21323414&ex=1&origin=MRL">match odds. But I would take Australia on the handicap with a < href="http://sports.betfair.com/Index.do?mi=21323416&ex=1&origin=MRL">14.5 points start.

There is a market on Cipriani's points during the match, and I would take the < href="http://sports.betfair.com/Index.do?mi=100211736&ex=1&origin=MRL">under as I don't see him managing more than 12.5.