Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
England prepare for fireworks at scrum time
ENGLAND have worked “unbelievably hard” on improving their scrummaging since the World Cup but will need to go up another level against Australia in Brisbane today, according to scrum coach Neal Hatley.
The English used to take for granted that they would dominate the scrum against Australia but the Wallabies turned those expectations upside down last year when they beat the hosts 33-13 in the World Cup.
Hatley was not involved in that campaign nor England’s Six Nations Grand Slam triumph earlier this year but is aware that the threat from Australia’s scrum has increased greatly since Michael Cheika brought Argentine coach Mario Ledesma on board.
“I always expect fireworks at scrum time,” Hatley said at Lang Park yesterday.
“They’ve improved massively under Ledesma, the Australians have come on leaps and bounds, so it’s going to be a tough contest, but we’ve got people like Dan Cole who are top quality scrummagers.
“It will be unbelievably attritional in there.”
Cole admitted on Thursday that England had been second best at the scrum against Australia last October, although he did think public questioning of the legality of the scrummaging of fellow prop Joe Marler had influenced referee Romain Poite.
Marler has skipped the tour for personal reasons so tighthead Cole will be the only remaining front row starter in the England side from the Twickenham humiliation.
Cole will line up alongside his pugnacious captain Dylan Hartley with loosehead Mako Vunipola on the other side of the scrum as the tourists look to restore what every English- man considers to be the natural order.
Against them will be young gun loosehead Scott Sio, veteran hooker and Australia skipper Stephen Moore as well as Greg Holmes, who got the start at tighthead after Sekope Kepu arrived late back in Australia from France.
Intriguingly, Poite will officiate once again.
As England coach Eddie Jones pointed out when in charge of Japan at the World Cup, the Frenchman has a reputation for deciding early which is the dominant pack and thereafter penalising the opposition.
Hatley, perhaps sensibly, was not ascribing to that theory in the public domain yesterday.
“I think Romain Poite’s a better referee than that,” he said. “I don’t think one scrum will determine how he referees the game. We’re going to have to scrummage every scrum like it’s the most important scrum in the game and let him get on with that.”
● The All Blacks will ease into their first Test since the World Cup final rather than try to blow Wales off the park from the opening whistle, captain Kieran Read has said.
Coach Steve Hansen has named a starting side brimming with firepower, with explosive flyers Julian Savea and Waisake Naholo on the wings for the clash at Eden Park today. But Read said his side would need time to settle and build pressure on Warren Gatland’s team.
“That will be key for us, not to try too much early,” Read said at Eden Park yesterday. “The nature of a Test match is that it will be abrasive and they will bring a lot of line speed and if we try to make things happen then it won’t come off.” – Reuters