Elsom on guard for new-look England

AUSTRALIA captain Rocky Elsom has warned the Wallabies to underestimate the new-look England side at their peril.

England have been hit hard by injuries in the build-up to the autumn international campaign and are without 11 of their initial squad, including six Lions.

Shane Geraghty will make his first England start while Matt Banahan, Ugo Monye, Dan Hipkiss and David Wilson all boast fewer than 10 caps.

But Elsom, who spent last year with Leinster, believes the depth of talent available to England will ensure they are a dangerous animal at Twickenham tomorrow.

“One thing I didn’t really realise before coming to Leinster is that the Guinness Premiership has a fair bit of depth. It is a really great tournament for selecting blokes,” said Elsom, who helped Leinster win the Heineken Cup before returning down under.

“There are a lot of guys to choose from and you see them play a lot. There are a lot of good players in that squad who probably don’t have the recognition.

“You also get the effect that when guys are playing their first few games there is a lot of excitement and energy and that definitely helps them.”

The Wallabies themselves are unleashing a new-look centre combination of Quade Cooper and Digby Ione after Berrick Barnes and Rob Horne were sent home injured.

Stirling Mortlock had been scheduled to bolster Australia’s midfield options but he has been ruled out of the tour after tearing a calf muscle.

Meanwhile Martin Johnson insists England have banished their disciplinary problems and are ready to show just how far they have advanced in the last year.

England were authors of their own demise against the Wallabies last year, conceding a string of soft penalties which allowed Matt Giteau to boot Australia to a 28-14 victory.

The early days of Johnson’s reign were then scarred further as England hit the self-destruct button with 10 players being sin-binned in just four matches.

England began to turn the corner after Johnson brought in leading referee Wayne Barnes to drill some sense into his players.

And Johnson is convinced that, despite being depleted by an injury crisis, England will produce a better and more discipline performance than 12 months ago.

“That improvement is what we are striving for,” said Johnson. “I am confident in the players. I know that they can play at this level and they have to show that tomorrow.

“We are more comfortable as a team now. We have worked very, very hard as a team on our discipline.”