'Madness' promises a pack of surprises
'Madness' promises a pack of surprises
Greg Growden in London Chief Rugby Correspondent | November 14, 2008
THE Australian scrum, mercilessly ridiculed by the British media, is on the improve, according to Wallabies back-rower Hugh McMeniman, and will surprise everyone - especially the English pack - at Twickenham on Saturday.
Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has been anxious to get McMeniman back into the Test line-up because the pack has been short of aggression without Dan Vickerman, James Horwill and Rocky Elsom on this tour.
The Queenslander's many injury problems had delayed that return, with a rolled ankle keeping him out of the Bledisloe Cup fixture in Hong Kong. However, he is now back to 100 per cent fitness, and played with passion against Italy in Padova. Now he wants a crack at England.
While most of McMeniman's teammates have been guarded in their comments during the tense week leading up to the Test, McMeniman was not nearly as careful. As usual, he spoke his mind.
Not for nothing is he known as "Madness" by his Wallabies teammates. "Everyone is going on about their scrum, and we know they are going to come at us there," McMeniman said.
"But we have definitely improved. We didn't have problems with the Italian scrum last week, and they're a good pack. We were able to move them around, so if we do the right things this week, in particular concentrate and focus on our technique, we will be all right.
"We've come a long way, and a lot of that has to do with technique. Michael Foley [forwards coach] has changed our technique quite a bit, and he has done wonders."
The Wallabies forwards have benefited from being part of a large 34-man squad, which has enabled them to have the numbers to conduct opposed scrums at training. This has allowed Foley and the players to work on their manoeuvring and technique.
The players are aware of the dangers of boasting about having an improved scrum, as often in the past they have built themselves up and then stumbled. But all involved firmly believe they are far better equipped than they were 13 months ago when England destroyed them in Marseilles.
Nonetheless, on Saturday they will face two of the architects of their World Cup disaster, English props Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery.
Vickery, a former skipper of England, made it well known when their Test team was announced during the week how keen he was to beat Australia.
"I'm as passionate about playing for England as I've always been," Vickery said. "I don't think there's any bigger Test match than against Australia. I grew up watching Australian teams, and they were always the best. It didn't matter what it was … tennis, golf, shove ha'penny, darts. They're good at everything.
"One reason why Australia are so good is their attitude to life in general. Whereas we might look at a particular problem, moan and find every reason not to do it, they look at a problem and think, 'How can we do it? What do we need to do? Where do we need to improve?' It's like with the new laws. They look at it and decide to embrace it. In that respect, they are a lot more proactive than us."
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