England changes give Australia food for thought

Australia captaincy duo Stirling Mortlock and Dan Vickerman are expecting a vastly different England display in the second Test after the world champions made six changes to the team that was beaten 34-3 in last week’s clash in Sydney.

George Chuter has been brought in to replace Lee Mears at hooker, joining his Leicester team-mates Graham Rowntree and Julian White in the front row.

There are also call-ups for fellow forwards Ben Kay, Chris Jones and Joe Worsley while fly-half Andy Goode and centre Jamie Noon are drafted into the back division.

The Wallabies forwards were more than a match for their England counterparts in the first Test, but Vickerman feels the tourists’ four changes up front could help re-invigorate their pack.

“I think England are always a side that pride themselves on their forward play and if they can get dominance up front, I think that sets the platform for a pretty good game for them,” said lock Vickerman.

“Ben Kay’s been around for a while and obviously their front row is a pretty experienced trio so I think we’re in for a pretty big assignment on Saturday.”

Stand-in Wallabies skipper Mortlock is also concerned about the all-Leicester front row, as well as the selection of Goode.

“I think the forward pack they’ve chosen, a lot of whom come from Leicester, will be looking to be authoritative against us,” said the ACT Brumbies centre.

“They tried to do that against us last week but I thought our forward pack did quite well. Andy Goode offers them more kicking direction than Olly Barkley does, so with those selections in mind there’s a fair chance they might change a little bit how they play.”

Despite England’s changes, the Wallabies are happy sticking with their game-plan, according to Mortlock.

“We go into the game thinking they might change it up slightly but we’ve got a pretty clear mindset that we’ve got to do the job up front,” he said.

“We’re pretty confident our backs can do the job if we get some good quality ball.”

Mortlock will lead the Australians in the absence of George Gregan, who will be on the bench as coach John Connolly aims to give back-up Sam Cordingley some game time at scrum-half.