England beef up pack to face Australia

It is difficult not to use that game as a reference point given that England manager Martin Johnson has recalled the captain from that day, Phil Vickery, at tighthead prop in place of Matt Stevens and also promoted Wasps lock Tom Palmer ahead of try-scoring debutant Nick Kennedy, in the only two changes from the side that beat the Pacific Islands last weekend. More ballast, more experience, more grunt – England are on familiar turf.

"It's pointless to compare the games," scrummaging coach Graham Rowntree said. "I'm not going to get conned into thinking we've got an advantage because when we've been expected to dominate, we haven't delivered."

And the Wallabies' nemesis, England loosehead Andrew Sheridan?

"He wasn't intimidating enough for me against the Pacific Islands," Rowntree said bluntly. "He wasn't dominant enough. We weren't dominant enough. We've not been shoving people around. We've got to stop harking back to that game."

Johnson was not too keen, either, on the Marseilles connection.

"I'm very wary about going into an England-Australia game thinking you've got an advantage because when you've had a good game against someone, there's always a rebound. We haven't scrummed well for a while. It's about 2.30pm on Saturday, not about reputations."

There is a certain logic to that, particularly in pointing out that England have only four survivors from that eventful afternoon: props Sheridan and Vickery, along with No 8 Nick Easter and wing Paul Sackey.

The Wallabies have changed nine of their starting side. More tellingly, they have changed two other things: their coach, the astute Kiwi, Robbie Deans, now being at the helm, and their mindset.

They are sharper and more competitive at the coal-face, more abrasive, tighter on technique and tougher in attitude. No more weak-kneed Wallabies in the scrum? We shall see.

Sheridan is a big man with a small ego. He will never talk a good game. He, too, was eager to debunk Marseilles myths.

"It's about the here and now," said Sheridan, who was informed of Rowntree's assessment of him. "He said that, did he? I'll have to have a word."

And become meaner?

"I'll see how I wake up on Saturday."

Sheridan did dwell one aspect of Australia's scrummaging. "They have had quite a few re-sets, that's just a fact, not me speaking out," he said. "We need to keep the scrummage up."

They all know that it has been some time since England's scrum exerted any sort of mean-edged authority, went out with teeth bared, cranky and horrible. The England coaches accept that the forwards will have to up their intensity levels in all phases.

Vickery's return will help that process. Johnson refused to separate the two props, Vickery and Stevens, in terms of worth but did refer to the former England captain's leadership skills. England have lacked mongrel, that intangible edge that all packs need even in this modern age where things are more choreographed. Talent only gets you so far.

Vickery, the only remaining member of the 2003 World Cup-winning side, is a model professional for this fledgling England side. He took his demotion from the captaincy with good grace.

"If you get hooked on accolades, you're a pretty sad individual," Vickery said. "I love playing rugby, I love playing for my country, and I'm as passionate as ever. I still really want it. No amount of money can make you feel like that. You've got to want to do it. You have to have a passion for what you do."

Johnson wants to draw on those depths of emotion, impose that personality on this young side. As for Kennedy, he is unlucky to have been dumped from the match-day 22. England, though, fancy a more frontal assault for this game. Palmer did well for them in New Zealand and was favoured to start last week but for a niggling injury.

His Wasps team-mate, Simon Shaw, steps up to the England bench. Shaw started in Marseilles. Oops, there we go again.

Deans back new-look Australia

Robbie Deans did his best on Tuesday night to distance his Australia team from thoughts that Saturday’s match at Twickenham was about gaining revenge for their World Cup defeat last year.

“This is a new group carving out its own way,” Deans said after naming his strongest team to face England. “It’s all in the past. I’m not interested in what has gone before.”

Deans, the first New Zealander to coach Australia, pointed out that only five of his Wallabies appeared in that quarter-final defeat in Marseille, and a number of the team had never played at Twickenham. “It holds no baggage for them,” he said. “History has no relevance apart from highlighting the scale of opportunity.”