RWC 2015 Preview: Australia v Uruguay

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Australia will continue to ease into the World Cup with what should be a straightforward win over Uruguay at Villa Park.

POOL A – Match #17 – Australia vs Uruguay

Australia	vs	Uruguay
– FIRST ENCOUNTER –

POSSIBLE RR World Rankings outcome on Result

AUS (on 86.44 points) at a Neutral venue -vs- URU (on 61.15 points) in a RWC match

Possible Outcome	Rating Point Exchange	New AUS Rating	New URU Rating	Will URU overtake AUS?
If AUS win by 1-15 points	0.000	86.44	61.15	No
If AUS win by more than 15	0.000	86.44	61.15	No
If result is a draw	2.000	84.44	63.15	No
If URU win by 1-15 points	4.000	82.44	65.15	No
If URU win by more than 15	6.000	80.44	67.15	No

The Wallabies claimed to be unconcerned about the subject of bonus points, after failing to pick one up against Fiji during the week.

That should be no such problem against los Teros, who will be aiming just to keep the final score below 50, having just failed to do so against Wales last weekend.

Australian eyes will be no doubt focused on Twickenham on Saturday evening, with their two main pool rivals going head-to-head.

They will pay particularly close attention to England, who they face next Saturday in what will be a crucial encounter.

By changing 14 players, Michael Cheika will have had the chance to see all his players in action in the tournament, something he believes will be crucial with the two biggest games in the pool still to come.

“We really want the entire squad to get a touch of the ball early at this Rugby World Cup and get everyone into match mode. We will need all 31 players ready for action throughout the tournament and this is the first chance to do that for many of this team,” he explained.

“We’ve had a solid preparation for this match considering that we’ve had to play two games in five days and we’re very happy with where the players are at.

“It’s important we continue to improve each day as a collective.”

The teams:

Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Joe Tomane, 13 Henry Speight, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Sean McMahon, 6 Ben McCalman, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Dean Mumm (c), 3 Toby Smith, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Sekope Kepu, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Rob Simmons, 21 Will Genia, 22 Bernard Foley, 23 Tevita Kuridrani.

Uruguay: 15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Leandro Leivas, 13 Joaquin Prada, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Agustin Ormaechea, 8 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 7 Matias Beer, 6 Juan De Freitas, 5 Franco Lamanna, 4 Santiago Vilaseca (c), 3 Mario Sagario, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacements: 16 Nicolas Klappenbach, 17 Oscar Duran, 18 Carlos Arboleya, 19 Alejandro Nieto, 20 Diego Magno, 21 Fernando Bascou, 22 Alejo Duran, 23 Alberto Roman.