How Australia’s monstrous pack turned an explosive set-piece power to strike concern into England, together with a twenty first ‘rhino’, the Scrum Doctor and the kings of profitable penalties

England’s ability to solve their recurring scrum problems will depend on the box-office showdown between two rival ‘rhinos’ when Australia bring a powered-up pack to Twickenham on Saturday.

In years gone by, an encounter with the Wallabies was regarded as a banker opportunity to gain set-piece dominance, but that is no longer the case. Joe Schmidt’s side may have slumped to ninth in the World Rugby rankings, but they have areas of formidable strength and the scrum has become one of them, thanks in large part to the imposing presence of Taniela Tupou.

The 21st tighthead will aim to prey on any doubts among the home forwards on the back of another ordeal up front at the hands of New Zealand. In July, England head coach Steve Borthwick lamented the scrum struggles which contributed to back-to-back defeats against the All Blacks and the same opponents snatched another narrow victory last Saturday, this time in south west London, after another scrum blitz.

While starting props Ellis Genge and Will Stuart had managed to create a firm platform for the hosts to forge into an eight-point lead, that advantage evaporated as the Kiwi pack turned the screw on Fin Baxter and Dan Cole in the closing stages of the Autumn Nations Series opener. It was a glaring factor in the 24-22 defeat and England made no attempt to hide that fact.

‘There are key things we know we need to get right,’ said captain Jamie George. ‘The scrum gave away too many penalties in the last 20 minutes of the game. We are aware of that.

‘First and foremost, we’ve got to reflect on the scrum performance as a whole. There was so much good in that and there were massive steps forward in the first half in particular. It was three penalties to none, or two penalties and an advantage in our favour.

‘In terms of then fixing what we need to fix, it’s identifying technically what we did wrong. There are a few bits where we tried to be too aggressive, and put ourselves in a compromising position. So, there are technical things we need to fix but, at the same time, our mind-set is to be aggressive.’

Borthwick also acknowledged the fundamental flaw which undermined his team’s hopes of claiming the Kiwi scalp last weekend. All the post-match focus was on George Ford’s missed penalty and drop goal at the death, but the head coach was quick to shift the spotlight of the post-mortem.

‘Clearly, the scrum is an area we want to improve, so everybody has a role in that,’ he said. ‘Quite clearly, there were moments towards the end of the last game where we conceded scrum penalties. We want the scrum to be better than it was.

‘I don’t think we gave him (Ford) the best platform and we’re disappointed in that now. If you look at that (drop goal) sequence again, where it starts from is the scrum. If you’ve got a scrum under the opposition posts, and you’re losing by two points, then you’ve got to scrum to set up, and it’s a great scrum that gets the ball out to ensure that you have a great target.

‘Ultimately, they put pressure upon our scrum ball, which then eventually led to George being put under pressure. We didn’t give George the platform he was required to do. So that’s a frustration. It’ll be something we’ll do better in the future.’

Cole has often served as a reassuring set-piece presence for England over his many years of national service, but last weekend he was unable to alter the dramatic shift in the balance of power up front. Part of the difficulty is the transition when replacement props are deployed in the second half.

‘There is a skill in coming off the bench because you don’t know the pace of the game and you are getting up to speed,’ said the Leicester veteran. ‘There is also the skill of the penalty count at the scrum. If it is four-nil in the first half you sometimes think, “This is going to swing back round in the second half”. So you come on and think, “Let’s be cleaner than clean”.

‘With Fin Baxter, we’ve played a tiny bit in New Zealand but you have to work on the combinations. You have to get comfortable playing with who you are playing with. You can’t do 40 scrums a week. There’s only so many you can do so you have to make the most of them. When you play against New Zealand they have a 140kg (22st) tighthead or loosehead and you’re like, “Who here is 140kg, lads?”!’

What England will face on Saturday is very nearly in that category. Tupou weighs 21st 3lb and is a major threat to Borthwick’s pack, given the increasing technical prowess and know-how that he has to go with his phenomenal physical attributes.

George’s former front-row team-mate at Saracens, Petrus du Plessis, was the Wallabies’ scrum coach from 2020-2023 and he set the scene for an intriguing battle ahead, especially on Tupou’s side of the scrum. These days, Australia’s No 3 is known as ‘Tongan Thor’, but when he was wreaking havoc at school in Auckland, he was known as ‘Runaway Rhino’ – and his familiar opposite number this weekend has a similar nickname.

‘When England came over to Australia a couple of years ago, it was all about Ellis against Taniela; the two of them locking horns,’ said Du Plessis – credited with a transformational impact on the Wallaby scrum. That was the biggest spectacle, that they were looking forward to. Taniela’s nickname is the Rhino and Genge is known as the Baby Rhino, so let’s see the two rhinos have a crack at each other!’

‘When I first met Taniela, he was still a youngster and he’s learned so much over the last four years. He was probably not as aggressive and attacking as a youngster. It took him a while to get his bind, his footwork and his body-height right, but if he does get a sniff; if he wins the hit, he could really damage England.

‘Throughout my three years there (with the Wallabies), I was working one-on-one with him and you want to see the guy in the gym. He benches 200kg and squats 300kg for fun. He’s one of the most explosive human beings I’ve ever met. If he gets into a good body-shape from the start on Saturday, he really could do some damage.

‘The biggest match-up is Taniela against Ellis Genge. But what I like about the England scrum, and I am talking from experience, is that Cowan-Dickie is on the bench. He is very strong and aggressive. He scrums hard and gets a decent hit. I would expect him to take on his opposition hooker.’

At the beginning of Cole’s long international career, England would bully a feeble Australian scrum as a matter of course. But that is ancient history. The Wallabies will expect to gain ascendancy in that area, with a combination of muscle, nous and experience – given that their two replacement props, James Slipper and Allan Alaalatoa, have amassed 216 caps between them.

Under Du Plessis’s expert guidance, Australia became a set-piece force and they have continued to improve of late, armed with the wisdom of long-time All Black ‘Scrum Doctor’ Mike Cron. They have a belief that they can be dominant. ‘When England came to us for that three-Test series (in 2022), we targeted the scrum massively,’ said Du Plessis. ‘But fair play to England, they possibly didn’t have a good scrum leading up to that but in that series they held their own.

‘For Taniela Tupou and Ellis Genge, it’s a long time since they’ve locked horns and I can’t wait for this encounter between two of the most powerful props in the world. If I was to make a little prediction, I don’t think the two scrums will tear into each other from the start. I think England’s ball will be England’s and Australia’s ball will be Australia’s. There might be some penalties through collapses.

‘No disrespect to the England scrum, but they create a lot of pre-engages, so there could be a lot of resets and some frustrations between the two packs, especially in the first half. England will move around and try to play games.’

Borthwick and his team certainly respect the challenge that awaits. The head coach acclaimed the power and experience of the Australian forwards and said: ‘They rank really highly on winning scrum penalties.’

George was similarly complimentary. But on the 2022 tour Down Under, Genge galvanised England when he took exception to a perceived slight from Tupou. The prospect of taking him on again could bring out the best in the Bristolian, according to his captain.

‘Ellis is someone who is very proud of his work,’ said George. ‘I don’t necessarily even know whether he needs any headlines. Ellis is world class. He showed that on Saturday. We saw that’s he’s back to close to his best and when he’s like that, I wouldn’t want to be any tighthead going up against him.’