Plenty is at stake at Twickenham on Saturday as the historic rivalry between England and Australia resumes with a game that has so many sub-plots.
England can equal their record 14-match winning run, achieved under Sir Clive Woodward’s reign between 2002 and 2003, if they beat Australia for the fourth time this year.
For Australia, the chance to gain a small measure of revenge for the 3-0 whitewash they suffered at the hands of England on home soil in June will clearly be on the agenda, and if they are triumphant at Twickenham, as they were against Argentina in the Rugby Championship in October, they will also usurp England from second place in the World Rugby Rankings.
Throw in the rivalry between England coach Eddie Jones and his opposite number and fellow Australian, Michael Cheika, and it’s easy to see how many people think the best of the end of year internationals has been saved until last.
ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA
Jones has made two changes to his side for their final test of the year. Nathan Hughes starts his first game for England at number eight, replacing Billy Vunipola, who was injured during last weekend’s victory over Argentina. Marland Yarde returns to the right wing in a starting side which contains 607 caps, while the bench remains unchanged.
Michael Cheika has made four changes ahead of the encounter, with Kane Douglas, Lopeti Timani, Sefanaia Naivalu and Nick Phipps earning recalls. Douglas impressed off the bench in last weekend's loss to Ireland, as did Naivalu, who raced away for a try with his first touch of the ball.
Dean Mumm and Henry Speight shift to the bench and are joined by scrum-half Nick Frisby, who is set for his first test since coming off the bench against Wales on 5 November.
In brief
- Australia have the better head-to-head record with 25 wins to England’s 21. There has been one draw (15-15 at Twickenham in 1997)
- Victory would see England equal their record of 14 consecutive test victories, dating back to their last game of RWC 2015, against Uruguay
- The last time England went through a whole calendar year with a 100 per cent record was in 1992 (six wins out of six)
- Australia captain Stephen Moore will add yet another career milestone, when he runs out for his 117th test to become the second most-capped Wallaby in history behind former skipper George Gregan
- History is also up for grabs for Tevita Kuridrani, who could join Mark Ella as the only Australian to score a try in every test match on tour against the home unions - a feat that hasn’t been replicated since the memorable Grand Slam tour of 1984.
Rankings predictor
England will consolidate second place in the rankings with victory. A gain of between 0.42 and 0.62 rating points is possible, meaning they could be just over four points behind New Zealand, the world’s number ranked team, when the rankings officially update at 12:00 GMT on Monday.
Any form of victory would see the Wallabies leapfrog England into second place, a position they surrendered during the series whitewash in June. A victory of 15 points or less would move them three-tenths of a point ahead of England, on 88.56 points, while a larger victory would see them gain 2.38 points and move them onto 89.35 – a difference of 1.89 points.
TRIPLE DELIGHT FOR PORTUGAL
Brazil’s improvement as a rugby nation was in evidence on Thursday when they went down to a narrow 21-17 defeat to hosts Portugal in historic Coimbra. The only other meeting between the sides, in Sao Paulo in 2013, ended in a 68-0 win for the European side.
Os Tupis threatened to pull off a shock win and round off their three-match European tour on a high, after back-to-back losses to Germany, when they stormed into a 10-0 lead. But a try and two penalties from full-back José Lima, who plays his club rugby in France with Oyonnax, saw Os Lobos hold a slender 11-10 advantage at half-time.
Portugal stretched further in front within 68 seconds of the restart when an excellent move between Lima and fly-half Nuno Penha Costa resulted in a converted try for the latter.
Lima then kicked his third penalty to extend the lead to 21-10 as the match entered the final quarter, but a second Brazilian try on 73 minutes made for a nervy finale before Os Lobos closed out their third straight win of November. Not since 2009 have they achieved three wins on the bounce.
The result did not affect either nation’s ranking, with Portugal remaining 25th and Brazil 36th.