Cullen to miss Munster’s two Cup openers
The former All Black undergoes keyhole surgery for a torn shoulder muscle in the next few days and will miss the clashes against Bourgoin (away) and Treviso (home). His debut is likely to be delayed until one of the back to back games against Gloucester early in January.
However, Cullen's three year contract with the IRFU, agreed several months ago, is not in jeopardy. Munster coach Alan Gaffney is disappointed the way thing turned out for the former New Zealand full-back: "Quite honestly, we could have done without this blow. We have been badly hit by injuries to players like Denis Leamy, Alan Quinlan, Mike Prendergast and, now, Christian.
"The word is that it isn't as bad as first feared. I'm confident he will make a swift recovery. "On a more positive note, we're hoping to have David Pusey back fairly quickly. Rob Henderson trained well yesterday, Jason Jones-Hughes was involved and Gordon McIllwham will train with us fully for the first time early next week," said the coach.
Meanwhile, Australia are acutely aware they must not give away penalties within kicking range but apart from stressing the need for discipline coach, Eddie Jones has devised no specific plans to shut down Jonny Wilkinson in the World Cup final.
The England fly-half's kicking has been the cornerstone of England's progression through the tournament, culminating in a 24-point haul in last weekend's semi-final victory over France.
But Jones today dismissed Wilkinson as a major threat to his side on Saturday, providing the pack can win the contest up front.
"We've probably spoken about him less than any other player because what's significant about England is that the players around him do the work to get him in a position to convert their field position to points," said Jones. "It will depend on the forward contest you can't get to any fly-half if their pack's going forward; whereas if you can stop the forward pack, stop them at the gain line your defence is on the offensive.
"Then you've got the ability to put that number 10 under pressure, and that's the whole game."
It's the gameplan Australia played against New Zealand last weekend closing down the time, space and options for Carlos Spencer who was strangled out of the contest.
But England will pose a very different test to the Wallabies, with a faster moving defence and more physical pack.
"England have got a distinctly different defensive style than New Zealand and a different attacking system," said Jones.
"We played a certain way against New Zealand, and it worked. But it's not going to work against England.
"We will definitely try and play in a different way against England. We've got some things in place we believe can test England, but again it all comes down to winning primary possession and putting yourself in the position."
One of England's greatest strengths is their ability to provide just the offensive defence Jones wants from his own side led by the back-row trio of Richard Hill ("one of the most outstanding players in the world"), Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio.
"If we get some slow ball, England come off line a little bit harder than New Zealand and will be able to put some pressure on Stephen Larkham," said Jones.
"They defend tighter than New Zealand do, so again it comes back to primary contest."
The breakdown contest will be crucial, particularly the forwards' discipline given that the two kickers on show Wilkinson and Elton Flatley boast the two best records in the tournament.
England started the World Cup conceding twice the number of penalties they consider acceptable but limited themselves to nine against Wales, seven against France and were significantly in credit in both their most recent games.
Crucially, the Welsh ran up 17 penalties in the quarter-final and the French 13 last weekend Wilkinson racked up a total of 47 points in those two games.
"Discipline is going to be a big factor. You can't afford to give a penalty 55 metres away from your goal line, because Wilkinson's capable of drilling them," said Jones.
"It's going to be an important part for both sides."
Wilkinson's boot has riled sections of the Australian media, who have spent the whole week writing off the England team and all Englishmen for that matter as boring.
But Jones has not bought into the hype, insisting the selection of Mike Tindall ahead of Mike Catt indicates a far bolder intent.
"What Clive's done is turn a side that was once pretty conservative into a side that can play any number of ways," he said.
"They can play with width; they can kick; they can maul; they can play a defensive game.
"In June they were widely criticised for beating New Zealand in Wellington in the rain, playing a kicking game. Then they came out and played 40 minutes against us that was probably the best ball movement we've seen this year in international rugby.
"That's a great achievement, and I think every coach hopes their side can play that way."
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