Since Australia eliminated England from their own Rugby World Cup at Twickenham in 2015, they have failed to beat the ‘mother country’.
Seven games, seven defeats is their record when coming up against one of their own in Eddie Jones, who continues to be the most marmite of coaches – or should that be vegemite?
The contrary Smith, however, has finally given the English rugby public what they want – a starting role at 10 for Marcus Smith against top-level opposition and he heads up what is an exciting-looking backline featuring Manu Tuilagi on the wing.
The big occasion seems to bring out the best in Smith and we expect England to continue their recent upturn in scoring tries. They’re not like to reach the same heights as the wins against Canada and Tonga but the 100/30 about them scoring two tries or more in each half (Paddy Power) stands out to us as good value, as does over 44.5 match points.
England won’t be far off that total themselves and the Aussies should contribute a few of their own even without potent threats as Kerevi, Cooper and Koroibete.
