RUGBY UNION:

Reece Hodge admits he faces a nervous wait to discover if his reckless tackle ban has cost him a prized quarter-final spot at the Rugby World Cup.

While Hodge’s ban has now expired, coach Michael Cheika has indicated that chances grabbed by other players and the flying winger not playing for three games has complicated a competitive wing choice for the Wallabies.

Hodge’s big boot, reliability and punch bobbing up in set plays would all appear tiebreakers in his favour heading into the must-win cauldron against Eddie Jones’s England in Oita on Saturday.

Hodge ( pictured) is taking nothing for granted and nor should he because a gambling coach might consider the Xfactor of strapping young gun Jordan Petaia even after just two halves as a Test winger.

“No spot is ever guaranteed,” Hodge said. “The first couple of days after the (ban) decision were pretty tough but there was no point trying to fret so I really tried to throw myself into helping prepare the guys around me.

“I’m looking forward to another week of really tough tussles at training and see what happens come the weekend because the guys who were in the back three positions over the last three games have played really well.”

Meanwhile, veteran prop James Slipper shared in tight, winning Cup quarter-finals in 2011 and 2015 and said the zealous work put in on scrums, lineouts and mauling all year would be the key to a win.

“Obviously it’s another game of rugby but what comes with that is a lot of pressure because it’s quite obviously a grand final week for both teams,” Slipper said.

—Jim Tucker