Rugby: England’s Next Game, Latest Odds and Analysis

Daire Walsh

Betting sites predicted a tight game and there may have been only two points to separate them in the end.

However, the moods in the Australian and English camps will have been decidedly different in the wake of their opening test encounter at Perth Stadium last Saturday.

Coming into the game with a perfect record against his native land from eight previous fixtures, England head coach Eddie Jones was looking for a win to ease the pressure on both himself and his squad.

Given they were 6-3 in front when Australian second-row Darcy Swain was red-carded on 34 minutes, the visitors really should have been able to push on for yet another success over their southern hemisphere counterparts.

Even though penalties from Noah Lolesio either side of the interval had the Wallabies in the driving seat, the combined forces of Ellis Genge and Owen Farrell ensured England were 14-9 ahead on the hour mark.

That was before a Jordan Petaia try sparked the hosts back to life and with the Sydney-born Billy Vunipola of England being sent to the sin-bin, meaning the visitors lost their numerical advantage for large stretches of the final-quarter.

Australia subsequently made hay with tries from Folau Fainga’a and Pete Samu and despite England crossing over late on through Henry Arundell and Jack van Poortvliet, it wasn’t enough to deny the Wallabies a 30-28 triumph.

Their poor recent record against England made Australia’s status as favourite a curious one ahead of last week’s test, but Davie Rennie’s men more than lived up to this tag.

Another Australia Test Win Predicted

The Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane is the venue on Saturday for the second test of the English Tour of Australia and the best betting sites for rugby union are once again anticipating a win for the Aussies.

The 8/11 odds on bet365 are probably the longest you will find on another Australian victory in this series.

However, bookmakers are offering 5/4 on an English triumph, and the prospect of Jones’ men turning the screw on their opponents shouldn’t be immediately dismissed out of hand.

When you consider it was essentially Lolesio’s greater accuracy (six from six off the tee,) off the boot in comparison to Farrell (missed two kicks) that ultimately decided the outcome of last weekend’s tie a draw certainly can’t be ruled out of the equation in Brisbane.

Odds of 25/1 is on offer from Betfair for the teams to be inseparable at the end of 80 minutes.

Stalemates are incredibly hard to predict in rugby union, but it may well be a war of attrition at a stadium that is commonly referred to by locals as ‘The Cauldron’.

Some Interesting Alternative Australia v England Bets On Offer

Aside from the more routine values that are on offer, bet365 are placing 11/5 on Australia to open the scoring in Saturday’s second test and to then lead at both half-time and full-time.

There are odds of 3/1 available on England to do the same and 7/1 for them to be in front at the end of both halves after falling behind early on.

Having been on course for a convincing victory in the first test until England’s late flourish, it is no surprise to see Australia being valued at 6/1 with Ladbrokes to win by a margin of 11 to 15 points.

Betfair are offering 11/2 on Australia wins of either 1-5 or 6-10 points, but are also providing odds of 13/2 on England triumphing by 1-5 points.

Eddie Jones Feeling The Heat After Difficult Run

Despite his assertion that he is building towards the 2023 Rugby World Cup  – a tournament he has excelled in with Australia, South Africa, Japan and England – Jones is increasingly coming under fire with each passing game.

If you include their recent encounter with the Barbarians (which isn’t technically regarded as a capped test), Jones has won just two games from seven thus far in 2022.

Opinion is split over Jones’ future in the English hot seat with some believing it would be a crazy decision to axe him with the World Cup just over 12 months away and others are not that convinced that he will be able to turn their fortunes around.

Jones opted to start Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell in the same starting line-up last week, and it was felt the pair didn’t quite gel in dual playmaker roles.

There could well be a change of tack for the second test and there are some players who will undoubtedly come into the reckoning on Saturday.

One bright spark for England the last day was 19-year-old Henry Arundell, who scored a try in a seven-minute cameo off the bench.

He has just completed his first season in the professional game with London Irish and is someone Jones is hoping can provide an X-factor over the course of this tour.

Australia Looking To Build On First Game Victory

As far as Jones’ counterpart Dave Rennie is concerned, it will be a case of more of the same in Brisbane.

The dismissal of Swain could have seriously derailed their challenge last Saturday, but Australia didn’t lose sight of the task at hand and finally ended their long drought against the English.

The power off their bench was a particular highlight for the Wallabies with Petaia, Fainga’a and Samu all crossing the whitewash after initially being held in reserve.

As much as anyone, Rennie will be targeting a strong World Cup campaign in France next year. This is understandable, given the Wallabies have reached the final of the tournament on four occasions and won it twice (1991 and 1999).

This could well mean that his match-winning stars from the previous game are given a chance to shine from the start on this occasion with three gruelling international tests in the space of just 14 days likely to take its toll on even the fittest players in rugby.

While it is very much advantage to Australia heading into the second test, memories of the three-game series with Ireland in the summer of 2018 should be more than enough to keep them on their toes.

Having begun that window with an 18-9 win over the reigning Six Nations champions in Brisbane, they fell short in the subsequent showdowns at AAMI Park in Melbourne (26-21) and Allianz Stadium in Sydney (20-16).

Time will tell if lessons have been learned from that tour.