In the second Rugby League World Cup semi-final, England will face Tonga at Mt Smart Stadium in New Zealand. Continue reading for our Semi-Final preview below:
When: Saturday, 25th November at 4:00pm (AEDT)
Where: Mt Smart Stadium, New Zealand
England Form Guide
After losing 18-4 against the Kangaroos in the first match, England is undefeated since then. They defeated Lebanon 29-10 and France 36-6 in the other group matches. In the quarter-finals, they beat PNG 36-6 at AAMI Park but were not overly impressive. They committed 20 errors and completed just 56% percent of their sets. They'll need to improve against Tonga or they could be exiting the tournament on Saturday.
The key for England winning this game is the forward pack. They must dominate Tonga in the yardage battle and that will open up the backfield. The likes of Luke Gale and Gareth Widdop will need to spread the ball and make Tonga think in defence. Getting the ball to Jermaine McGillvary will also be in their gameplan. He leads England with 12 linebreaks, 845 metres from 69 runs and has crossed the try-line 6 times.
Tonga Form Guide
The 2017 World Cup has been the best Tongan performance at the tournament and they'll be looking for another upset this Saturday. In the group stages, they stormed home against New Zealand after trailing 16-2 at half-time. They ended up scoring 26 second-half points and produced a stunning 28-22 victory. In the quarter-final against Lebanon they did scrap through with a 24-22 win and England will pose a tougher challenge.
After switching to play for Tonga before the World Cup, Jason Taumalolo has been a beast for Tonga. Which has set up the likes of Micheal Jennings and Daniel Topou in the backline. They form a solid combination after playing for the Roosters a few years ago and England will need to be at their best in defence.
Key Matchup
Tongan forward pack vs England forward pack - The forward pack battle is the key to this game as both sides have enforcers in the middle of the field. For England, they're led by James Graham and Sam Burgess. While for Tonga, Andrew Fifita, Jason Taumalolo and Sika Manu are their key forwards. In the end, the team that dominates the middle of the field will give the outside backs more space and ultimately this will decide the match.
Prediction
This match is played at Mt Smart Stadium which is a huge advantage for Tonga. They've won all three matches in New Zealand during this tournament and most of the crowd will be rooting for them. But we can see a close game and the betting says the same (England -4). England is well known for their struggles in semi-final World Cup (2013 against New Zealand for example) games so it's hard to confidently back them here. Especially since this is basically an away game. In the end, we're expecting both teams to intensely defend their line and we'll look at the under total points as the best bet. England isn't the highest scoring team and they were sloppy against PNG last week. Tonga's defence could be an issue but we believe they'll stand up with a potential World Cup final spot on the line.
TIP: Under 39.5 total points - $2.04 at Sportsbet
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