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Under-fire forwards caught short at the breakdown, too, admits Sharpe
Greg Growden
November 10, 2010
LONDON: The Wallabies' forwards, who have been the butt of English jokes since being monstered by the Wales pack, are not going to be swayed into focusing solely on improving their tight-five work.
They also know that to keep England at bay at Twickenham on Saturday, they must change their approach towards another problem area highlighted in the Test against Wales - the breakdown.
Australia's woes up front have obsessed the British media, as shown by one cheeky question at yesterday's news conference at the team's London hotel when wingers Drew Mitchell and James O'Connor were asked if their appearance was just a diversion so that their forward teammates could avoid questions about scrummaging.
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The players laughed it off, but elsewhere the Wallabies' pack had begun work on getting its act right. A meeting was planned at which, their most senior representative, Nathan Sharpe, says, ''everyone will look at what went wrong, come up with solutions on how to fix it and talk about how England will go about attacking us''.
And that won't mean just the set-piece. The Wales Test also showed that what the forwards got away with during the Tri Nations at the breakdown won't work here.
The Wallabies have generally succeeded with quick ball when they've gone down in the tackle. However, against Wales more opposition numbers at the breakdown had them regularly losing possession. There was also more counter-rucking.
''The Wales Test was an eye-opener for us,'' Sharpe said yesterday. ''When you play against South Africa and New Zealand, generally when you get a good carry, we found through the year they would not commit too many numbers. So from a carry you would get quick ball, and the opposition would fan out to get a better defensive line. One of the things we didn't adapt quickly enough to against Wales was that we would get a good carry, but they still committed people to that breakdown.
''They were contesting more for the pill at the breakdown. So we had a high rate of turnover because we didn't pay enough attention into making sure those good carries resulted in quick ball by getting rid of those blokes at the breakdown.''
As for the scrum woes, it revolves around the pack working as one. ''It is very important that you scrummage together,'' Sharpe said. ''There's no benefit in not acting as an eight. Essentially, the front row sets the angles and the rest of us need to push our arses off, together. If you try to do it on your own, more often than not, you go nowhere.''
Hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau has joined the team in London and trained with the team to face Leicester at Welford Road early on Wednesday, Sydney time. Leicester boast 10 internationals, including former All Blacks Scott Hamilton and Craig Newby.
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/un...109-17lzs.html
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