AUTUMN WEEK 2 LINE UPS AND PREDICTIONS

England bring in Ashton to start on the wing, probably to give Daly more protections at fullback, Moon at front row and Underhill at 7 to replace the injured Curry. I think retaining Te'o was a good call to combat Sonny Bill, as was keeping Hartley at hooker (to get under their skin) - Shields is lucky as done nothing for club or country.

Chris, please repeat in England shirt

England: Elliot Daly; Chris Ashton, Henry Slade, Ben Te'o, Jonny May; Owen Farrell (co-captain), Ben Youngs; Ben Moon, Dylan Hartley (co-captain), Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, George Kruis, Brad Shields, Sam Underhill, Mark Wilson.

Replacements: Jamie George, Alec Hepburn, Harry Williams, Charlie Ewels, Courtney Lawes, Danny Care, George Ford, Jack Nowell.

NZ have the best backline I think I have ever seen - superstars like Barrett, Williams, Ioane and Smith x 2 are worth playing £195 to watch every week (Ben Smith is the most consistent performer in world rugby imho) and young bucks like McKenzie and Goodhue are also getting pretty close. They just need to win the ball, and, oh, with season campaigners like Franks, Read, Whitelock and Retallick up front, they have a good chance. But, hey the Safas beat them so England have a chance!

I am not religious but this man is God

New Zealand: 15-McKenzie; 14-Smith, 13-Goodhue, 12-Williams, 11-Ioane; 10-B Barrett, 9-A Smith; 1-K Tu'inukuafe, 2-Taylor, 3-Franks, 4-Whitelock, 5-Retallick, 6-Squire, 7-Savea, 8-Read

Replacements: 16-Coles, 17-Tu'ungafasi, 18-Laulala, 19-S Barrett, 20-Todd, 21-Perenara, 22-Mo'unga, 23-Crotty

Prediction: NZ by 10

Scotland bring back in some big guns for Fiji game, which is a testament to the increasing strength of the opposition. Had they been available last week, they ideally would have wanted this week to rest Russell, Laidlaw, Maitland, Nel and Wilson ahead of the SA game, plus given Hogg another week to recover from his injury, However, having had 101% possession last week against Wales and failed to turn pressure into points, they need to win the game tomorrow and get some momentum going for their toughest Autumn test the week after. Good to see Skinner making his debut, and Strauss back in the squad to give them more ball carrying options, along with Harris in the centre, who replaces Huw Jones, who will no doubt be doing tackling drills on the back pitch.

Good to see Hoggy back fit again

Scotland team: Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Maitland (Saracens), Finn Russell (Racing 92), Greig Laidlaw (Clermont - capt); Allan Dell (Edinburgh), Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Willem Nel (Edinburgh), Sam Skinner (Exeter), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors).

Replacements: Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Alex Allan (Glasgow Warriors), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Josh Strauss (Sale), George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons).

Fiji only lost 20 - 23 to Ireland in the summer, and beat Scotland in Suva (there is said it) so will not be underestimated this time around. With proven Premiership and Top 14 players in their backline like Goneva and Radradra (frightening against England for Baba's) Scotland need to deny them quick ball (and avoid getting tackled at all). Bill Mata at 8 is well know to Scots, as he has been Edinburgh's best player this season, ditto Nakarawa, who made Glasgow competitive with any team in Europe a few seasons ago.

Radradra: Deny this man the ball

Fiji: 15. Setareki Tuicuvu, 14. Metui Talebula, 13. Semi Radradra, 12. Jale Vatabua, 11. Vereniki Goneva, 10. Ben Volavola, 9. Frank Lomani; 1. Campese Maafu, 2. Sam Matavesi, 3. Manasa Saulo, 4. Tevita Cavubati, 5. Leone Nakarawa, 6. Dominiko Waqaniburotu (captain), 7. Peceli Yato, 8. Viliame Mata

Replacements: 16. Mesulame Dolokoto, 17. Eroni Mawi, 18. Kalivate Tawake, 19. Albert Tuisue, 20. Semi Kunatani, 21. Henry Seniloli, 22. Alivereti Veitokani, 23. Eroni Vasiteri

Prediction: Scotland by 7 (ish)

Despite having access to their Exiles, Wales has only made three changes as they attempt to beat Oz for the first time in 13 matches. Josh Adams starts on the wing, Tomas Francis in the front row and Adam Beard in second row. Dan Biggar and Liam Williams strengthen the bench. Australia has made 4 changes to side that lost to NZ in the Rugby Championship. Adam Coleman comes into 2nd row, Latu at hooker, Jack Dempsey in back row and Samuel Kerevi at centre. Izzy Folau moves to wing with Haylett Petty at full back and Beale at 12 as a second five eighth. With a Kiwi ref the Aussies have a chance especially if they can win quick ball as should do more damage to Wales defence than Scots.

Prediction: Wales by 3

Roving OATH reporter Jonny Brown will be at the Principality for us.

JAMES HASKELL FINEST MOMENT

James Haskell had great moments on the pitch, for a range of clubs across the world, but this has to be his finest, defining moment. To be fair, he was hearing a delayed feed in his ear, and was live on Sky, so no hiding, but his slurred speech had the effect of thinking he had been on the hospitality claret...sorry James, as an ex Maidenhead player, we love you dearly, but need to share.

Footage courtesy of Dan Robson's tweet:

When your mate is trying to convince the bouncer he’s not drunk 😂. Sorry @jameshaskell pic.twitter.com/k4tEPVmY3w

— Dan Robson (@d_jrobson) November 3, 2018

IS RUGBY BECOMING A GAME WE JUST WATCH?

I attended a Sunday Times Autumn Internationals review in town last week with Stephen Jones, Stuart Barnes, Lol Dallaglio and Big Jim Hamilton. All the debate was about us watching rugby at the elite level (obviously), rather than the state of the game at the amateur level. The international game appears in rude health, with the RFU claiming 2.5m+ applications for 82,000 Twickenham tickets this Saturday, even with the most expensive now costing some (corporates I guess) £195 each. It is New Zealand I hear you cry, and we have not played them for 4 years, so a game not to be missed, so happy to shell out a mass premium for the AB's - however, even the SA and Aussie match tickets are costing an eyewatering £150, hardly within the budget of a young millennial amateur player once food, beverage and transport thrown in! But, don't worry lad, you can go and watch Japan!  Apparently, the RFU needs the money, as even £8m per game is not sufficient to fund Eddie, the management team, the players and the community game ... anyway enough on the RFU Banana Republic. In summary, with even Scotland now selling out their home games, including Fiji, the professional game for Tier 1 countries, especially at international and club level (with TV money), appears to be making good progress (Tier 2 country debate for another day).

Banana Republic HQ

I fear for the amateur game, yes, all community rugby clubs across the country are buzzing with mini and youth on a Sunday, who now contribute the majority of the club revenue, but, especially in the South, when this homegrown talent leaves school to head off to Uni or world of work, the majority lose contact with their local club, and either join a city team, or stop playing the beautiful game altogether. I feel this pain personally as run an U23 side for my local club, which helps keep the club-lads bond strong during Uni days, and provides a bit of strength in depth for the lower club teams during holidays. But, it is becoming increasingly difficult, with most of them, either stopping playing due to fear of injury or wine, women and song, or drifting away to work in London (where their peer group is) or up North (where the maths work), As a result, ours, like most small amateur clubs, who used to run 6-8 adult teams back in the day, now struggles to field 2-3 teams on a good day. And what is the RFU response, with their £8m per game? They are making HQ management and community coaches redundant to fund the increasing cost of the professional game. And, finally, we have not even touched on the increasing physicality of the game, which the RFU and World Rugby are rightly trying to address, to deter parents from withdrawing their son or daughter once they reach a certain age (when size is everything). But after Farrell's tackle at the weekend, even the most experienced observer of the game is confused what is legal or not, let alone a 12 year old. Given the mother test, that challenge would have failed...

So is adult rugby union, like golf or American footy, set to become a professional sport we watch, rather than a game at the heart of the local community that we play to keep fit? If so, will it survive?

AUTUMN INTERNATIONALS WEEK 1 REVIEW

Didn't do too well on my predictions - England won by 1 point versus my guess of SA by 5 (both victor and margin incorrect), Wales beat Scotland by 11 points versus my guess of Wales by 5 (victor correct, margin incorrect) and Ireland hosed Italy by 47 points versus my guess of Italy by 5 (victor and margin incorrect) - nobody told me Italy were going to play a B team as well as Ireland, in prep for the Georgia game this weekend.

England (somehow) scrape home against SA

Credit to England on Saturday for finishing ahead on the scoreboard, as they were second in virtually all key areas. No tries but four penalties from Owen Farrell, a very solid defensive effort from the forwards, including a MOM performance from Mark Wilson at 8 and the replacement front row really stepped up in the last third. Areas to improve on for England ranged from coming a distinct second in scrum, a high penalty count against them overall (which NZ would punish more severely) including another Itoje yellow, Daly under the high ball, more try scoring opportunities, especially as the only real one was butchered by Brad Shields failing to execute a 2 v 1 under pressure. South Africa, with more accuracy (especially throwing into the lineout) and better decision making, especially in second half, would have been 15 points up at half time and England would never have got back in the game. Safa stars were Allende in the centre, a real wrecking ball, the front five in scrum and Pollard at 10 who set up the only try of the game and kicked well.

Can't you see he is wrapping his arms around attacker

And then onto that Faz tackle. I would not have wanted to make that decision, which could potentially have meant the away team winning the game at Twickenham with the clock dead, but for the video ref not even to warrant it a penalty I found strange. The Aussie and Kiwi agreed between them that whilst he led with the shoulder, he wrapped his arm(s) sufficiently to warrant it as a legal challenge. Certainly, all the Northern Hemisphere refs interviewed this week (who did not have to make the decision live admittedly) indicated they would certainly have penalised Farrell - some even saying it was a yellow card offence. Imagine the opposite scenario, where a South African put in the same challenge on an England player, or even a Pacific Islander (on Ben Youngs or George Ford)? They would have shown him a red, locked him in the tower and thrown away the key. Anyway, coulda, woulda, shoulda ... doesn't matter now, but Erasmus, the SA coach's response in the post match conference was interesting - "if that sort of tackle is now legal, we will practice it in training this week and inflict it on France on Saturday" (the first 10 mins of that game will be interesting). And true to his word, he was filmed instructing Esterhuizen, the victim of said tackle to mirror Farrell's challenge, which is worth watching ... no doubt the ineffective suits at World Rugby will not be amused.

SA practice the Farrell

Last but not least, forget international rugby, the real game of the weekend was Jersey's win over London Irish, the Exiles first defeat of the season - just watch Jersey's first try from under their own posts.