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After 14 long days in Japan, England will finally get back to action at the Rugby World Cup this weekend when they take on Australia in the quarter-finals.
With a place in the last four on the line, both England and the Wallabies will be desperate to produce their best performance of the campaign so far – which is surely what it will take to win the opening knockout match of the weekend between the two fierce sporting rivals.
England go into the match with a near-fully fit squad to select from, with the only concern being over Jack Nowell who looks set to miss out on yet another match at the World Cup.
Fears over Billy Vunipola and Joe Marler look to have subsided with the pair both back in training after suffering injuries against Argentina, but should Eddie Jones risk selecting both of them in the same squad when their fitness is not guaranteed?
The slight issue in regards to Marler is that while he has struggled with a back injury, his potential replacement in Mako Vunipola has only played 17 minutes at this World Cup on his own return from hamstring surgery.
Show all 24 1 /24Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team England vs Australia Eddie Jones is set to name his England team on Thursday for the Rugby World Cup quarter-final - but who should he select?
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 1. Joe Marler Marler has fully recovered from his back ‘niggle’ suffered against Argentina and has made the No 1 shirt his own. Despite having Mako Vunipola available again, if England are to show that he needs to play his way into the team, this is the time to show it.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 2. Jamie George Brings lineout reliability and mobility from the forwards – though he’d certainly like to start bagging a few tries like fellow hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie!
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 3. Kyle Sinckler His limited game time so far in Japan means we haven’t seen him at his best, but this match has all the ingredients for Sinckler to show he’s ready for the big stage.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 4. Maro Itoje Has been pinpointed by Australia as being one of the players who they cannot allow to dominate the game. His lineout skills and leading defensive effort is helping him to stand out among the rest of the side.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 5. George Kruis Likely to continue his Saracens partnership with Itoje, with the lineout set to be a keenly-fought contest between two giant second rows.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 6. Tom Curry On stand-by at No 8 should Vunipola not come up good this week, but looks to be finding his feet at blindside flanker and is due a breakout performance.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 7. Sam Underhill Another of England’s standout performers who is leading the defensive rush along with Itoje. Underhill has been a unit without the ball and chipped in with some powerful carries against Tonga and the US, but against David Pocock and Michael Hooper, this will be his biggest test yet.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 8. Billy Vunipola Providing he is towards the scale of fully fit, Vunipola is the man to remain in the No 8 shirt given what he offers this team. Perhaps the biggest tell-tale sign of his impact is not what he does in the match, but what his teammates are able to as opposed to when he isn’t there.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 9. Ben Youngs Scored against Argentina in what wasn’t his best performance overall, but will almost certainly continue in the No 9 shirt unless Eddie Jones springs a massive surprise.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 10. George Ford Arguably England’s most impressive and improved player in Japan, which should help him retain the No 10 shirt despite the questions surrounding Owen Farrell’s best position.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 11. Jonny May England biggest threat out wide, who after opening his account against the Pumas and set to win his 50th cap could make the most of the space that Australia’s play will leave.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 12. Owen Farrell The chance to try him back out at 10 disappeared with the cancelled game against France, meaning he almost certainly has to be retained at centre.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 13. Manu Tuilagi England’s powerhouse option in midfield who has the potential to do some serious damage up against James O’Connor, Tuilagi looks to be playing his best rugby for the last half a decade.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 14. Anthony Watson Retains his position due to Jack Nowell’s hamstring injury that looks set to keep him out of the squad altogether. Watson has found his feet well since getting back into the international fold, but now it’s time to step it up a gear.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 15. Elliot Daly Will be looking to build on his best outing at full-back for England against Argentina, and is unlikely to face a barrage of high balls from the Wallabies meaning he will get the opportunity to join the attack.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie Remains England’s top try-scorer of the tournament despite being back-up to Jamie George. Brings good energy to the pack off the bench and his lineout accuracy is improving a great deal.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 17. Mako Vunipola A very good argument for him to go straight into the starting XV, but from the bench he and Marler can put together a solid 80-minute showing at loosehead that gives Jones a nice flexibility of when to introduce the Saracens prop.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 18. Dan Cole A simple choice with Sinckler still the No 1 tighthead in the squad.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 19. Courtney Lawes Is knocking on the door of a start and looks to be well ahead of Joe Launchbury in the pecking order.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 20. Lewis Ludlam Is a toss of a coin between him and Mark Wilson for the back-row replacement spot, but with Curry proving he can cover at No 8 if needed two weeks ago, the need to have Wilson there reduces slightly and Jones has been very impressed with Ludlam’s energy.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 21. Willi Heinz Pushing Youngs hard for a start, and his box-kicking ability would certainly prove a problem for the Wallabies. Look out for a new tactic in wearing tape on his fingers to combat the slippery ball.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 22. Henry Slade Still has reservations over his injured left knee that remains heavily strapped in training, and with his big run-out scuppered in the France game, a place on the bench looks most likely.
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Rugby World Cup; England vs Australia predicted team 23. Jonathan Joseph With Nowell unlikely to be included, Jones looks set to select Joseph in front of either Joe Cokanasiga and Ruaridh McConnochie.
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So who should Jones select for the crunch showdown with the Wallabies?
Click through the gallery to see our team selection.
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