A fair amount of improvement is required before the England game, and I expect to see it. One of the problems Australia must address is the ability of the midfield backs to make space for the back three. They need to make space on the outside by producing options on the inside.
Some people suggested that Clyde Rathbone did not let the ball out enough in the first Test against the Scots, but he played well, while the support runners did not get close enough to him or cut the right angles. Rathbone is a real talent and could become a star. He fits in well with the current attributes of the Australia backs. It is a big, physical line of runners that is equal in pace to England. Australia may not play with the collective speed that the New Zealand backs summoned in both Tests against England, but they have good individual tryscoring ability right along the line.
Stirling Mortlock has just recovered from injury and is a big, agile runner who is hard to contain. He is powerful in the lower body, and anything other than a pile-driving tackle is unlikely to bring him down, given his 6ft 2in, 16st physique.
The difficulty in getting the best out of the likes of Mortlock and Joe Roff is that Australia have struggled in terms of “collective play”. This means putting three passes together in sequence, using three or four attackers to threaten a group of defenders.
So much of Australia’s game comes from Stephen Larkham at fly-half.
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His form has improved significantly since the World Cup, but I believe that having only one playmaker in the line-up is a deficiency. I see Matt Giteau in the role of a secondary playmaker, if only Larkham would surrender enough of the role to cut him free.
Giteau is a tough kid with vision, speed and good reaction time. He can play anywhere in the back line, and, although he is currently picked at inside-centre, he is an excellent No 10, and I have seen him outshine first choice scrum-halves at under-21 level when he has come on as a reserve. He has the talent to play anywhere in attack, and is a strong tackler.
Larkham is a massive talent. But he is not a natural fly-half, because he runs across the field too much. In my book, the fly-half is not always an outright playmaker. Instead, he may be required to run a straight line, and make a slight shift in direction. Will Greenwood has done this brilliantly for England in the inside-centre channel, and I believe he has been undervalued. Only now are England seeing what they have lost in attack. Larkham, at his best, is capable of fulfilling a similar brief.
A lot of the talk about comparisons between the Super 12 and the European Cup is hogwash. What is important is to have outstanding players, and England have lost a lot of them in one fell swoop. Martin Johnson, Jonny Wilkinson, Neil Back, Jason Robinson, Phil Vickery and Greenwood cannot be replaced easily.
Added to that, other World Cup performers have fallen off the pace for the English. Steve Thompson at hooker is not in the tip-top condition necessary at international level, and England will have to pick up their forward game if they want to make a dent in the Wallabies.
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In Waugh and George Smith, Australia have two fine No 7s, and there are signs that David Lyons, a tank of a No 8, could be coming of age. Add a pair of world-class locks in Nathan Sharpe and Justin Harrison — and another in the making in Daniel Vickerman — and the back five of the pack looks in good shape.
The front row are okay, although not many of them would get called into a world XV. However, Brendan Cannon is an accurate lineout thrower and a good spearhead.
England cannot expect a pushover up front, and with the Scotland series a timely build-up to Saturday’s clash in Brisbane, I expect the Wallaby backs to raise a gallop.