It was a night where everything clicked for the Wallabies.
When Australia beat England at Twickenham in last year's World Cup, they dominated in the scrum, handed almost error-free ball to their backs and watched as their attack gelled almost seamlessly.
The scrum was a major weapon for the Wallabies that night, a tangible turning point in their forward pack resurgence but prop Greg Holmes said it was but a single element in their best match of the tournament.
“It was a part of it. But just a small part of the puzzle,” he said.
“I looked at the way our whole team performed. Everything clicked, the whole team was great.
“It was just one part of the whole game.
“That was probably the best game we played at the World Cup.
Holmes said the Wallabies wouldn’t be foolish enough to think that another perfect game will just be conjured up.
“If they wipe the floor with us, everyone will forget about it pretty quickly,” he said.
The scrum was a major weapon for the Wallabies that night, a tangible turning point in their forward pack resurgence and Holmes said the perception that southern nations didn’t focus enough on set piece was changing.
“They are very, very good scrummagers,” he said.
“I think the southern hemisphere is slowly catching up in the mental space.
“This is a very important part of the game and if we don’t catch up we will get left behind.”
“I think the amount of training and emphasis we put on it now is close to what they are doing, but I expect them to take another step, especially in this series.”
England is likely to have a vastly different front row from the one the Wallabies encountered at Twickenham and Holmes said they could only expect improvement from their opposite numbers.
“It’s one of the best scrums in the world so we’ve really had to put a lot of work and we’re putting a lot of time and effort into that area,” he said.
“It’s something we want to perform well in and we know it’s going to be a tough job for us.
“They’re a very, very good scrum and they’ll be a lot better than they were at the World Cup.,” he said.
“They’ll be a lot more prepared under Eddie now.
“So we’re not going to get caught out there. We know what’s coming and hopefully we’ll be ready for it.”
