England shuffles backline for RWC quarterfinal vs Australia

Owen Farrell has moved to flyhalf to replace George Ford and Henry Slade has been reunited in midfield with Manu Tuilangi as England reverted to its Six Nations combination in a bid to thwart Australia's attacking threat in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.

Farrell's shift from 12 to 10 and Tuilanga's move from outside to inside center to create a spot for Slade was done with attack and defense in mind.

"Australia defend a certain way and we believe those three players can trouble their defense, and defensively too we feel like it's a pretty strong 10-12-13 combination," Farrell said. "We know Australia are a high-possession team, they are a high-phase team and that's how they want to play, so there's going to be a lot of defending in that area and we think those three guys are well equipped to handle it."

England coach Eddie Jones also made two changes to his forward pack, selecting Mako Vunipola to return at loosehead in place of Joe Marler and Courtney Lawes to start in the second row at the expense of George Kruis. Ford, Marler and Kruis were all included on the eight-man reserves bench.

Vunipola has recovered from a hamstring strain and will make his first start of the tournament. Billy Vunipola has overcome an ankle injury and will start at No. 8.

Jones has a 6-0 record as England coach against Australia. He knows the Australian systems well, having coached the Wallabies to the World Cup final in 2003 — ending in an extra-time loss to England — and being involved in the same Sydney club as Saturday's counterpart, Michael Cheika.

"Australia are a clever team. They will have some specific attacking strategies to play against us so we need to have a great situational awareness," Jones said. "We need to defend with brutality, and when we have the ball we need play on top of them."

The England XV contains 10 players who started in the 37-18 win over Australia last November.

The winner at Oita on Saturday will play either defending champion New Zealand or Ireland in the semifinals.

England is aiming to make amends for failing to reach the knockout stage when it hosted the tournament in 2015, when losses to Australia and Wales in the pool phase were costly. Twotime champion Australia lost the final to New Zealand.

England topped Pool C with wins over Tonga, the United States and Argentina, but it's last scheduled game against threetime finalist France was canceled last weekend because of Typhoon Hagibas. Australia placed second in Pool D after a narrow loss to Six Nations champion Wales.

"Once you get to the quarterfinals it's about having the right mindset," Jones said. "We know how well we can play, it's about us playing to our strengths and trying to take away from what Australia want."

Jonny May, who has scored a try in each of his last two tests against Australia, will start on the left wing and will earn his 50th test cap.

Jones said dropping Ford was part of the "horse for courses situation" and the flyhalf was included on the bench "so he's going to finish for us instead of starting. Everyone has a role to do."

"We know about Australia, they are a great tournament side," Jones said. "I think (Cheika) has done a really good job. They've improved their scrum and lineout over the last six to 12 months considerably and that makes them more difficult to beat."

No dancing around it: NZ vs Ireland in a World Cup knockout

An Irish critic who enraged New Zealanders by describing the haka as a marketing gimmick may just have sharpened the focus of the All Blacks for the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals.

The All Blacks haven't lost a game at the sport's marquee event since a quarterfinal upset against France in 2007, rebounding from that with back-to-back titles in 2011 and '15 during a decade run at No. 1.

Ireland hasn't won a knockout match in seven attempts at the Rugby World Cup.

Nerves will be a factor at Tokyo Stadium on Saturday, but the Irish have won two of their last three tests against the All Blacks, starting with their historic first at Chicago in 2016 and another in Dublin last November.

The Irish have a Kiwi head coach in Joe Schmidt, who is well versed in New Zealand rugby. And his assistant, Andy Farrell, has worked out a defensive system that seems to be working against the All Blacks.

This showdown is happening before most had anticipated. The Irish held the top-ranking before the tournament and were favored to top Pool A, but an upset 19-12 loss to Japan meant they finished second and drew the toughest of all assignments in the knockout stage.

Compounding the usual tension were the remarks from the critic in Ireland which were widely republished in New Zealand. To the point where the All Blacks were asked about it after the match squad was announced.

Captain Keiran Read said the ceremonial pre-game challenge galvanized the players in the team, and the team with the people of New Zealand.

"It's not about the opposition or anything, it's about us as All Blacks, the tradition that's held for us over 100 years," he said.

Flyhalf Richie Mo'unga said the haka is "very sacred for us, energizes us."

Mo'unga's performance will be pivotal to New Zealand's game, considering he's only played 14 tests — seven in the starting XV — and will be marking Johnny Sexton, the 2018 world player of the year, the general in Ireland's attack and a stickler for the structure that epitomizes their game.

Mo'unga was given a start when the All Blacks devised a dual playmakers plan, and Beauden Barrett, another former world player of the year, was switched to fullback.

While the Irish have plenty of intel on New Zealand, Mo'unga isn't lacking when it comes to an understanding of opponents courtesy of Ronan O'Gara, his Super Rugby coach at the Crusaders. O'Gara combined with Peter Stringer in the halves for 55 tests for Ireland, a national record that Sexton and Conor Murray will break this weekend.

"ROG has been awesome ... he's very determined, very driven, and that gives me a little insight into what the Irish are like," Mo'unga said. "They're going to come all guns blazing."

Awesome is also a word Mo'unga used to describe Sexton. And that's where some backup from Barrett, who will start in 15 but likely show up as a first receiver at times, will help Mo'unga. There are three Barrett brothers in the New Zealand 23, so they'll seem like they're up all over the field.

The tandem playmaker strategy took a little while to settle, but the backline awareness has improved immeasurably and helped in the pool-stage win over South Africa.

"We've come a long way since our first pairing," said Mo'unga, who has carved out his spot as the preferred kicker.

"It's important to know we're never going to get everything right but we're trying to sharpen up parts of our game where we can help each other and, as key drivers of the team, help the team out."

Schmidt has recalled Rob Kearney at fullback and Peter O'Mahony on the blindside flank and moved Robbie Henshaw to inside center to cover for the absence of Bundee Aki, who was banned for three games after his red card for a high tackle against Samoa last weekend. Garry Ringrose will start at outside center.