Johnno on England's quarter-final line-up

So Andy Farrell's back in England's starting line-up at inside centre and Jason Robinson returns from injury for what should be a cracking quarter-final against Australia on Saturday.

I thought Brian Ashton might bring Farrell back in midfield because they need someone who can get them going forward and over the gain line. They didn't really play off Olly Barkley very much against Tonga - whether that was his fault or just the way the team played, I'm not too sure.

But Farrell has more of a physical presence and I'm not surprised he's back in, especially as he kicks with his right foot, giving England a right-left combination between him and Jonny Wilkinson.

But I'm a bit surprised that Mark Regan is back in at hooker for George Chuter. I think George added something to the team when he came in, and his line-out play has been pretty good.

Maybe they think Regan is a stronger scrummager and they're trying to pressurise the Wallabies' scrum. And maybe they'll bring George on later in the game when there's more space for him to run into. With Phil Vickery, Andrew Sheridan and Regan starting in the front row, England will be hoping to exert pressure and control early on.

Australia used not to have the greatest of scrums but they've improved that part of their game in recent years so it will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday.

I'm glad that Lewis Moody is starting at open-side flanker again. I thought he played himself into the team with his performance against Tonga.

It's good to see Robinson back in at full-back, and I'm not surpised that Josh Lewsey has switched to the wing.

Can England win? And what tactics should they adopt? Find out in another of my World Cup blogs later in the week. In the meantime, send me your thoughts via the link below.

Comments

england wil win the world cup

autralia will lose 100-0

[Chris]

70/1 !!! I took 25/1 two months ago.
I do think England have a good chance of beating them especially as we are the underdogs. Roll on Saturday 1400 hrs.

[Adam]

I think the main difference between England from 2003 and the Engand of 2007, is that in 2007...we havent used the backs properly. In 2003 our main offenssive was the back with the likes of Robinson opening up the other team, these days we seem to be bullying our way to the try line with the power of our forwards, which is great if u can then get it to the backs to finish off but our offloading and passing hasnt been amazing this tournement. We did show that we have improved against Tonga with the likes of Sackey, but we need to improve on that even more to beat Australia, because when they perform...they really are good. As long as we can get the passes going, pressure on the scrum and Johnny being on form, no reason why we havent got a chance!

[Ben]

Two games in, if someone had said we would make the quarterfinals, I'd have told them where to get off, as I did not think it would happen. After the Tonga match, I can now see a glimmer of hope. I still think it is highly unlikely that we will go all the way, but Australia can be beaten if we played with the same flare and passion that we saw against Tonga. I hope it wasn't a flash in the pan as we have seen vary little evidence of ether else where from England in the cup. I'm glad that Wilkinson is back but even happier that we didn't have to rely on him to keep the scoreboard ticking over. This may sound daft, but the entire tournament, we've been waiting on one man and you can build the team round one man. The fact he did make mistakes and had one of the worst kicking % games of his career and we still won comfortably shows we can pull it out the bag, with or with out him. I’m not saying he isn’t an important part of the team, he is, but just one of 15. People have written us off already before going into this game. Betfair at the moment have us at 46/1 to make the semi-finals and huge 70/1 to win. As an English man, I’ve already consoled myself to the fact that we loose every major sporting tournament and that’s our place in life. But I then remembered I thought the same back in 2003. I was proved wrong then, I hope I am again. A couple of quid on that 70/1 bet seems good odds to me at the moment.