England Team: Andy Robinson named his starting line-up for Saturday's showdown with Australia yesterday along with a warning that England's "fiercest rivals" should not be underestimated despite a grim sequence of six Test defeats.
As expected the England head coach has plumped for Josh Lewsey at fullback ahead of his Wasps clubmate Mark van Gisbergen, has named Worcester's Pat Sanderson in the backrow, albeit on the blindside flank, with Lewis Moody keeping the number seven jersey, and Ben Cohen returns on the wing for his first Test start in 17 months.
But having seen the Wallabies play France on Saturday, the England management is braced for a physical tussle every bit as tight as the famous 2003 World Cup final eventually became. "They fought throughout against France and when they had the ball they played with pace and vision. When they didn't they scrapped for everything. Their back row are living on scraps at the moment and still performing very well," said Robinson, mindful that Australia's downturn in fortunes does not extend to England, against whom they are chasing a third consecutive post-World Cup win.
Accordingly, Robinson is looking to his front five for a solid platform on which his reshuffled midfield of Charlie Hodgson, Mike Tindall and Jamie Noon can ask questions of a different kind. For all the talk of fresh starts, however, nine of the side started the 21-19 defeat to the Wallabies 12 months ago, a figure that would have been higher were Joe Worsley not injured and Jason Robinson not retired.
Only in the front row, where Andrew Sheridan and Phil Vickery start together for the first time, is there any substantial change in personnel, with Steve Thompson's retention at hooker maintaining his status as one of only five ever-present starters in the Robinson era, the other four being Lewsey, Hodgson, Mark Cueto and Danny Grewcock.
By far the happiest man yesterday was Sanderson, who has had to wait seven years to face Australia in a Test match. In 1998, at the age of 20, he was selected for the infamous Brisbane Test that England lost 76-0, only to be sidelined with tonsillitis on the eve of the game.
"I did seem like the end of the world at the time but I was a young boy, barely 20 years old, and a lot has happened since," said Sanderson, who captained England in the Churchill Cup in Canada this summer but was omitted from the initial elite England squad.
"I've played all over the back row, so it doesn't bother me whether I play six, seven or eight. They've got two world-class flankers and it's going to be tough."
Van Gisbergen has to be content with a place on the bench, with Robinson viewing Cohen's recent try-scoring burst for Northampton as proof he is back to his best and worthy of a place in a muscular back three alongside Lewsey and Cueto.
The England management is also hoping the players' non-participation in the weekend's Premiership games will be vindicated by events at Twickenham, although Robinson is wary of what he saw as deliberate blocking by All Black and Wallaby players on Saturday.
"It's something which, as always, we'll be talking to the referee about," he said. France's Joel Jutge is in charge of Saturday's game, with Alan Lewis of Ireland controlling the New Zealand fixture on Saturday week.
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(to play Australia on Saturday at Twickenham):
J Lewsey (Wasps); M Cueto (Sale), J Noon (Newcastle), M Tindall (Gloucester), B Cohen (Northampton); C Hodgson (Sale), M Dawson (Wasps); A Sheridan (Sale), S Thompson (Northampton), P Vickery (Gloucester), S Borthwick (Bath), D Grewcock (Bath), P Sanderson (Worcester), L Moody (Leicester), M Corry (Leicester, capt).
Replacements: L Mears (Bath), M Stevens (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), C Jones (Sale), H Ellis (Leicester), O Barkley (Bath), M Van Gisbergen (Wasps).
