English don't worry us

Rupert Guinness in Montpellier | September 20, 2007

WALLABIES hooker Stephen Moore believes the Australian pack will finally silence its many critics by getting the better of the England scrum, should the two sides meet in the World Cup quarter-finals in France.

Despite England being on the receiving end of a 36-0 drubbing by South Africa last weekend, the Queensland rake still rates the English scrum as a formidable unit and worthy as a reference point to judge the Australian pack.

"They have a lot of strength in their scrum with Andrew Sheridan, Phil Vickery to come back, and Matt Stevens scrummaged very well the other night," he said. "They are a very good scrum unit. While we respect them, they are certainly nothing that we fear."

Moore, 24, said the Wallabies pack was fully aware of the value of dominating the England scrum.

And it goes way beyond enjoying the bragging rights that England claimed in 2005 when the two sides met at Twickenham.

The big plus, will be the psychological edge the Wallabies could get going into the semi-finals in Paris.

And they will need every bit of edge, as the Wallabies will most probably meet the world No.1 All Blacks, should they progress.

"That is what we are trying to build in the pool games, that momentum and combination going into the big games," Moore said.

"If we do happen to play England in a quarter-final, that [domination of England in the scrum] is going to be a huge stepping stone.

"If we can get through that test - in the forwards particularly - we will be ready for anything."

To be fair, the much maligned Wallabies scrum has, in fact, shown that it has vastly improved under the guidance of forwards coach Michael Foley.

But Moore agreed that it was still very much a work in progress. While Australia's pack has earned growing respect from opposition scrums, it still falls short of striking fear into quality opponents.

"As an eight we have improved individually and that has improved the scrum," Moore said. "Everyone is becoming more aware of their role - from No.1 to No.8.

"In the past, only the front row worried about scrums. Now our eight are taking ownership, and that is reflected on the field."

Wallabies blindside breakaway Rocky Elsom said he believed the Wallabies tight five had added a new dimension to their attack.

That was due, in part, to them being encouraged to run with the ball, and their interplay was vastly better than one year ago.

"It definitely is a lot easier to play when the forwards are all working together, particularly in attack," Elsom said. "Although the backs make most of the breaks, you need to get a lot of continuity out of your forwards. That was one of the big positives.

"We have a lot of skills. [Nathan] Sharpe is one who has a great set of hands he probably didn't know [he had] until 2006.

"Matt Dunning is a totally different player to what he was a couple of years ago. You see them get into the game a lot more."

But Elsom also praised his fellow back-rower and No.8 Wycliff Palu, whose first-half, midfield busts with Elsom against Wales helped to open the Wallabies' attack.

"Cliffy had a particularly strong game," Elsom said. "[But] this year I haven't seen Cliffy not play well. He has been pretty good every time he has played.

"The little things of his game are improving. As far as potential goes, if he keeps playing the way he does …"