C’mon, admit it, you must be sweating a tad more than when you posted this blog.

But the Jones article on Oz having more depth up front now ought to be a warning to England @ the WC. I believe that yr view & seemingly many of yr countrymen’s opinions to the contrary, is borderline complacency. Things can change pretty quickly in rugby (& Oz have brought in renowned former Argentinian scrummager, Ledesma ) & if you rely on yr scrum as the main platform on which you base yr game, you may be in for a rude wake up call. I’ve heard this stuff for ages now, but I do recall, e.g., that the most maligned prop in the world, Al Baxter, being part of a winning Oz front row which shunted England over their own try line to score @ HQ.

The incident you allude to was a 1 off… @ home (& I know that the WC too is @ home). Have England done it regularly, i.e. score tries from their scrum? I don’t think so, but if you think the scrum is going to be a cake walk then good on you.

Personally I think England have more to worry about, like an ineffective midfield, with the coach assessing Burgess as a potential centre, presumably based on his size. Can’t be ability, as his own club played him @ flanker after he DIDN’T work in their midfield!

Yr opinion regds Simmons etc, is just that, opinion.

I can’t really comment on daft sensationalist headlines; but that is all they are. If you were to use media headlines and present them as public opinion then I don’t think any country would come out looking rational or sane!

Agree that Aus were fairly fortunate to win, SA will be disappointed. I’m not too sure either side are in a particularly great place right now. SA look decimated by injuries at the moment.

Aus must start Pocock; only when he was on the pitch did they secure regular ball. Still think the Aus front 5 is so poor. Horwill or Simmons wouldn’t get in any other top teams squad. In fact only Moore would get in any other top tier nations squad. Securing quick ball at the breakdown is a job for the pack, now just the back row. Aus seemed to think they could secure ball going into rucks in ones and twos.

But, in any event, surely it’s a no brainer as to whether you’d rather had yr team 20% MORE scrum ball though.

Don’t know if ‘Australia are… an extremely good’ side just yet & agree that they were really poor at the breakdown. They need Pocock in to start to get breakdown ball & their other loosies need to GET THERE!

Also they had 1 out runners charging at the Saffas, playing into the latter’s hands. However, whatever the reason, the Oz sub fr. row were on top of their counterparts in the end.

And talk about aimless, aerial ping pong, both sides were guilty of frittering away almost endless possession. At the death Oz were lucky to get the ‘W’ I thought.

The Oz backs need more ball to be other than just defenders, esp as they butchered a couple, like Giteau’s pass to Falau… & Higg’botham’s kicking the ball dead with back support at hand!

Coach needs to sharpen up their decision making too methinks.

Australia are not a poor side; they’re an extremely good one. Great win yesterday against SA, but they were really poor at the breakdown. Until SA made their front row subs they looked poor at scrum time too. Luckily for them though; with ball in hand they are the only side in the same stratosphere as NZ so they will always compete with anyone.

Is Stephen Jones a personal friend of yours? I’ve never heard someone quote him quite as often as you do. I’ve also never met anyone that thinks his opinions are in some way meaningful!

And surely yr FB comparison is comparing chalk & cheese… perhaps yr FB would have made a few more meaningful meters with that extra 20% of ball.

Because England had a couple of push overs then (in an injury weakened team which has since been ameliorated, hence more depth & new blood now; this is acc to the S Times & not just my view), it doesn’t automatically follow that it will happen again.

That the SH have by & large dominated rugby in recent decades in no small part by analysing & fixing or negating things that cause them issues. Oz have a new coach now. He will have & indeed has worked on perceived weaknesses (e.g by relaxing rules & getting some overseas cavalry into their mix). He’s also rejunvenated their thinking in how they will play play (4 instance by restoring Genia, Cooper) & surely upped their confidence in a modified & pretty exp team now.

However, some proof of the Oz pudding may be seen in the eating v SA tomorrow am. Oz don’t exactly look like pushovers to me, but we’ll see.

England scored two tries in that game vs Oz from walkovers are scrum time. Morgan took both.

England have massive issues at 12 (not the whole midfield as some would have you believe); and that will cause us issues against quite a few teams. I don’t however think Australia are one of them.

I expect (hope) that we play against Australia in the same way we have the past two times (when we have won fairly comfortably) – 10 man rugby. Ugly to watch but in a WC, and in the group we have, the win is all that matters.

You may need reminding that the last time England played Oz @ HQ the latter won 100% of their scrums, whilst the Red Rose won 80%. However, local hacks chose a similar take on this as you, stating that England ‘battered them in the scrums’.

This perception doesn’t stack up with statistical reality though. England seemed superior on their ball, but Oz stiffened their scrum resistance in the 2nd 1/2 & overall, won 20% of English ball. How do you explain this in light of yr view?

They also beat the ABs before the last WC, doing so presumably with ‘a poor front 5’? Mmmm.

In truth, Oz also have a bit more depth in their front & 2nd rows now. Besides, a team only needs nr parity up front & it’s what they do with the ball they win that really counts.

With England’s uncertain midfield, perhaps this should be of more concern to you than Oz’s front 5.

Do prefer AAC at 13 too, but Kuridrani is too good to drop so I guess he’d have to be on the wing. Haven’t even mention Kurtley Beale yet!

The rest of the world are really lucky that Australia have such a poor front 5! Stephen Moore excluded.

Who would you go for in the back row? Pocock at 6 with Hopper at 7? Higgingbottom at 8?

Genia-Giteau-Naiyaravoro-Toomua-Kuridrani-Ashley Cooper-Folau. Tasty

Meanwhile in England we are still trying to work out whether to play Barritt or Burrell. This squad only goes to highlight what a problem position 12 is for England, and has been really since Greenwood/Catt era.

Does Matt Toomua even make a match day squad now? Foley and Giteau together should go pretty well…