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Moore unfazed by scrum bashing
November 11, 2008 AUSTRALIA hooker Stephen Moore couldn't care less if the British press see the Wallabies pack as the weak link in Saturday's Test clash with England at Twickenham.
Fleet Street has already gone into overdrive with a scathing weekend attack on frontrower Al Baxter, claiming Australia's most-capped prop has been cheating throughout his career by deliberately collapsing scrums to sap the energy from rivals.
Moore said taking aim at the Wallabies scrum was a typical old chestnut and he was totally unfazed heading into his first encounter with the English since their ambush of Australia in last year's World Cup quarter-final in Marseille.
“(Focus on the Wallabies scrum) is every week when you play a Test over here,” he said.
“That's their opinion. I don't really want to get involved. We can't control it. Not really interested either.
“All I'm worried about is having a good preparation for this Test like I was last week and that doesn't involve reading papers.
“It involves getting out on the field and doing what we do best on the field. That's all I'm interested in this week.
“We're playing England and that's a big challenge and all our energy is going to be directed towards that this week.”
But Moore - one of only seven survivors from the Australian starting XV from Marseille tipped to be named on Wednesday in the Wallabies run-on side for Saturday's blockbuster - did acknowledge the return Test was likely to be decided at the set piece.
“If one scrum gets heavily on top of another, you're looking at penalties and things like that. Then you're looking at points and it certainly can go that way in a game,” he said.
“But we take an enormous pride in our set-piece work, so we're going out there to get a result.
“So whatever advantage we can get at the set piece, we'll be looking to take.”
The Wallabies had to cut short their Monday recovery session in order to take up an invitation for afternoon tea with Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle.
“We can't leave the Queen waiting,” star winger Lote Tuqiri said.
And injured centre Timana Tahu found one positive in having his entire tour cut short after tearing his hamstring in Saturday's win over Italy.
“I'm a little bit homesick for my kids,” Tahu said before boarding a flight back to Sydney.
“I talked to them this morning on skype and I'm sort of happy in a way that I'm going home, but sad in a way that I'm missing out on a perfect opportunity to tour with the Wallabies.”
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...-23217,00.html
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