With no game for Leeds United this weekend, I’ve decided to write about another big sporting event taking place in the city tomorrow night, the Four Nations final between England and Australia. If you’re not a keen rugby fan, I suggest you look away now!

The game has all the ingredients of a classic – the young pretenders seeking to topple the masters, the best forward pack in the world against the best backs, with plenty of rivalry and niggle to go with it.

Having spent a year down under I know how much the Aussies love their sport and just love to get one over us Pommies. That made it all the more special when we turned them over in the Rugby World Cup in 2007!

The standard of rugby league over there is simply on another level. I had the great pleasure of being at the ANZ Stadium when New South Wales beat Queensland in the 2007 State of Origin series. I have never witnessed such intensity and some of the hits were bone-chilling, throw the unbelievably talented backs into the mix and you start to get an idea of what we are up against.

Praying for rain

The only way we have a chance tomorrow is if it lashes it down all day – that’s no exaggeration. On a dry track, the Aussies will destroy you – as we saw in the first-half at Wigan two weeks ago.

Greg Inglis is a freak of a player, up there with the best I have ever seen. He’s got everything – pace, power, handling skills and reads the game so well. Rumours are going around about him being paired with Dally M player of the year Jarryd Hayne. That’s a scary prospect.

The man keeping Hayne out of his favoured full-back position is Billy Slater – another world-class talent. Slater is a brilliant support player and is as safe as houses at the back, except for the occasional brain implosion.

Experienced half-back pairing Darren Lockyer and Johnathan Thurston will guide the Aussies around the park and are both capable of moments of genius.

It all sounds pretty daunting, especially given the fact that Lockyer has more caps than the English back division put together.

There is certainly enough talent in England’s backline, it’s just the lack of experience which worries me. Australia will pounce on any error in judgement or loss in concentration in a heartbeat.

Kyle Eastmond and Sam Tomkins have the makings of a pretty special half-back partnership – I just think this final has come too soon for them and they will struggle with the intensity and pressure. You can’t really blame them, they haven’t even had a full Super League season yet.

The forward battle

The battle up front is just going to be awesome. If, as forecast, there is heavy rain, England will be in their element. It means the game will be played down the middle where the forwards should dominate their Australian counterparts. It also means their backs will be starved of the ball, playing right into England’s hands.

England’s pack is huge, with four props in the starting six. There will be some massive collisions, I really wouldn’t fancy being out there.

Support players like Eastmond and Tomkins should be sniffing around the forwards for any kind of offload, there won’t be many opportunities for clean breaks.

I’m looking forward to seeing Sam Burgess in his last game before he heads down under. He is a real talent and is the nearest thing we have to Sonny Bill Williams.

Prediction

If the weather is on our side we have a chance. The forwards should be able to lay the platform for the backs, I’m just not sure we have the firepower to hurt the Aussies. Unfortunately I think Australia will win it but it will be closer than some people think.

Tache-tastic

If you tune in tomorrow you will notice a few of the Aussie players with a bit of a fashion disaster going on above their top lip. They haven’t lost the plot, it is all for a good cause!

The month of ‘Movember’ was designed to raise awareness in men’s health. Men everywhere grow a moustache to support the fight against Prostate Cancer.

It’s a great charity which is growing all the time. You can find a link here which will explain what the charity is about in a bit more detail. In the link you will see me and some mates with our ‘efforts’ a couple of years ago. I don’t expect people to donate money, raising awareness is just as valuable as raising the money.

http://uk.movember.com/mospace/90475/

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