England v Australia
'Australia are no mugs in the set piece'
ESPN Staff
November 26, 2014
David Wilson insists Australia will no pushovers in the scrum © Getty Images
Enlarge

England prop David Wilson says his side will have to be at their best if they are to get an ascendancy in the set piece ahead of the meeting with Australia on Saturday at Twickenham.

Wilson has started all three of England's November Tests to date and is set to keep his place in the side for Saturday's match. England will enter the climax to the autumn hoping to squeeze Australia at the set-piece and dominate them at the breakdown, denying the dazzling Wallabies three-quarters the quick ball on which they thrive.

The scrum remains the tourists' Achilles heel and their head coach Michael Cheika has also admitted opponents feel they can be out-muscled, compelling him to call for his players to "harden-up" in the wake of Saturday's 26-23 defeat by Ireland. England forwards coach Graham Rowntree believes "canny" Australia will use their cunning to even the odds and Wilson is adamant they will be a force when they pack down.

"Australia are very good tacticians at the scrum. They'll come up with anything to get the edge. I'm sure they'll have a few tricks up their sleeves," Wilson said. "They're not a weak side at the set piece, they're no mugs. They'll be well drilled. They scrummaged well in parts against Ireland and Wales and I'm sure they'll give us a good run for our money.

"You target the set piece in every single game because you want to starve them of as much ball as possible. Australia are a good side with the ball in hand. We can't take a backwards step and think it's an easy day at the office because if we do we'll get stuffed.

"We've been quite consistent at the set-piece so far and that's what we'll keep striving to do. You can't win an international with 50% set piece, so we will have to be right up there."

And following England's win over Samoa on Saturday, Wilson has called on the team to finish their November series on a triumphant note this weekend.

"We've played some quality sides in New Zealand and South Africa and we're disappointed to have lost," Wilson said. "The pressure is on to win every international, but if we beat Australia it would make the autumn a lot sweeter. We've performed well but haven't done well enough to be on the right side of the scoreboard. Beating Samoa will have eased the nerves a bit and the longer you're in camp together the better you get to know each other.

"The Rugby Championship teams touring here have been together for three months now, which helps them. Now we've had that time together we have more of a club feel and things get easier to sort out."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.