England v Australia: Prediction, Tips and Odds

England suffered another near miss last Saturday as they went down 24-22 to New Zealand and now take on Australia, who are eyeing their first Twickenham win over the English since the 2015 World Cup.

The fallout from the All Blacks defeat focused on Steve Borthwick's seemingly pre-planned decision to introduce the undercooked George Ford for Marcus Smith around the hour mark.

The Red Rose squandered an eight-point lead in that time and Ford then missed a penalty and pushed a drop goal wide as the Kiwis held on.

With South Africa due at HQ on 16th December, Borthwick's boys next face Australia.

The England coach has named an unchanged team - barring his centres switching shirt numbers - but opposition counterpart Joe Schmidt, usually a details man, has played a real wildcard for the match.

Rugby Australia spent $5million to bring 21-year-old Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii across from rugby league and he will make his union debut at Twickenham - he is the only change to the team from September's 33-13 loss to the Kiwis in Wellington.

The Wallabies won just once in the Rugby Championship, but showed occasional signs of promise and their spirit means the final scoreline may not reflect their opponents' performance.

England v Australia betting tips and predictions

Australia +13 - 11/10

Results aside, England's play is improving and Australia are a good side against whom to demonstrate their increased liking for throwing the ball around.

Unlike the Kiwis or Springboks, the Wallabies are unlikely to put consistent pressure on the Red Rose scrum and line-out, while Schmidt's search for combinations continues, with Suaalii making his rugby union debut alongside Len Ikitau in the centres.

England are way ahead in the various first scorer markets and to lead at the interval, but tend to drop off in the second 40.

They should win, and probably have the result wrapped up by the hour, but Australia have decent players on the bench who can exploit fatigued defenders and the score could be closer than it should be.

Immanuel Feyi-Waboso anytime tryscorer - 5/6

Wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso was at it again against the Kiwis, touching down for England's only try.

That was his fifth international score in seven international appearances and the third consecutive Test against the All Blacks in which he crossed the line.

The boy's a star and has the fleet of foot and strength out wide to exploit space, as well as the rugby brain to anticipate where the ball will pop up or whose shoulder to be on when he drifts inside.

Feyi-Waboso has room for improvement but his form and strike-rate suggest he is almost a given to go over again.

Australia to score last - 5/4

As previously mentioned, a feature of England's play under Borthwick has been their inability to score points in the final quarter of matches, perhaps due to the coach's apparent preoccupation with shutting games down rather than keeping the pressure on opponents.

They were eight points up with 20 minutes to go against New Zealand, but failed to add to their tally and conceded 10.

Barring their dramatic late drop goal triumph over Ireland in the Six Nations, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory has been a real issue under Borthwick. 

Like last Saturday, the All Blacks also scored the final points in both Tests in the summer and, Ireland aside, the opposition also grabbed the final points in three of the Red Rose's other four Six Nations matches.

Australia might lack certain attributes, but spirit won't be one and they are a great price to be the final team to get on the board.

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England v Australia odds

England - 1/6
Tie - 33/1
Australia - 4/1

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.