Woodward: Wallabies not the brightest
Woodward, never one to shirk having a dig at his fierce rivals Wallabies during his coaching career and since he became a highly paid pundit, believes England will prevail by three points – just as they did in the epic Final in Sydney 12 years ago.
His Australian counterpart from that memorable evening in Sydney Eddie Jones, now in charge of Japan, believes the Pool A clash will be tight but says the Wallabies might "sneak it by one or two points".
The third member of the celebrated rugby troika to chew the cud in the Daily Mail on Saturday's blockbuster, grizzled Italian prop Martin Castrogiovanni, agrees with Woodward that England will sneak a narrow win – but says they will have to be perfect.
England lost 28-25 against Wales last weekend despite holding a 10-point lead at one stage and with the Welsh ravaged by injuries during the game – putting the hosts in danger of crashing out of the competition at the group stage.
"Its about never letting them [the Australians] off the hook," said Woodward.
"If you can keep hold of the ball, and run through the phases, always moving forwards, Australia will disintegrate.
"Do the opposite of what they expect, move the ball quickly from the scrum, take quick line-outs, tap and go.
"Contrary to popular belief, they are not the brightest team, they give away penalties and pick up yellow cards when they're stretched."
Castrogiovanni, who played in England for Leicester Tigers and has also turned out for Toulon and Racing92, said England's love of the scrum could be pivotal although they would not want to be dragged all over the pitch.
"Their power is in the forwards and the set piece can be a big asset," said the Italian, who is the record Italian caps-holder with 115.
"On the flipside, they are all big guys who love eating chicken and going to the gym, so they might struggle if the opposition try to move them round."
Woodward, whose reputation took a battering when he coached the British and Irish Lions on their tour of New Zealand in a 3-0 series loss in 2005, admits England could be punished by their ill-discipline at the breakdown.
"Their biggest weakness right now is the penalty count at the breakdown, their predictable use of the bench and their tactical decision-making in the last 20 minutes," said Woodward.
Jones, whose "Brave Blossoms" face an equally important game on Saturday against Samoa as they bid to reach the last eight, is worried about the match referee Frenchman Romain Poite, who will officiate the England-Australia showdown.
"He's the sort of referee who, depending on who dominates the first scrum, he will tend to favour that scrum for the rest of the game," said the 55-year-old Australian.
"He also tends to favour the defending team more at the breakdown, which is going to make it tight.
"Australia might sneak it, but only by one or two points. I can see it being really tight with both sides under 20 points."
Castrogiovanni, who is a doubt for Italy's Pool D clash with unbeaten Ireland on Sunday, says England also lack freshness – the Wales game was energy-sapping while the majority of the Wallaby side was rested for the Uruguay game last Sunday – even if his gut tells him they will win.
"England have been waiting for this World Cup for so long and they can't go out yet," said Castrogiovanni, who turns 34 later this month.
"I'm going to have Giteau and Drew Mitchell (another Wallaby who he played with at Toulon) calling me to complain but, if England play with heart and balls, they will win."
Agence France-Presse
