Livewire Latham issues England threat

On Saturday, therefore, the champions of the Tri-Nations will dare the champions of the Six Nations to stop them making another clean sweep of Europe with a team containing a makeshift pair of half backs, a three-quarter line with two players out of position and a full back who finds it hard to stop scoring.

No wonder Latham feels as though he is in 'dreamland'. No sooner had he abandoned all hope of making it as a Socceroo than the boy from the Bush was on his way to David Campese's old club, Randwick, enticed by the offer of a job as an apprentice mechanic. 'Some of my mates talked me into playing,' said Latham. 'I thought I'd give it a go and see what happened. It's all pretty hard to believe.'

Only the Aussies could pitch up at the end of a punishing year without their injured playmakers- in-chief, George Gregan and Stephen Larkham , without the world's longest- running pair of centres, Tim Horan and

Jason Little, without the world's most-capped flanker, David Wilson, as well as various other members of the orchestra, including the accident-prone Ben Tune, and keep winning as if nothing had happened.

They have a full back, Matt Burke, on the right wing, a right wing, Stirling Mortlock, at outside centre and a stop-gap at stand off, Rod Kafer, who fits snugly into the rotund Identikit of fly halves made famous by the expansive Irishman of the Seventies, Barry McGann. Kafer moves about as quickly but has yet to prove himself in the same class as a footballer.

He will almost certainly play against England since his impressive understudy, 23-year-old Elton Flatley, played the last five minutes with a broken wrist after repacing 'Tugboat' in the 54th minute to become involved in two of the three Wallaby tries.

Once the Australians took their backs off the leash in the second half , they won at a gallop, Latham stampeding through Steve Brotherstone's tackle for the first try. Joe Roff, marking his 50th consecutive Test in suitable style, scored the second and made the third for Burke after cutting a swathe through midfield.

In Paris, the previous week, the Wallabies survived despite the shock of conceding a try. At Murrayfield, a spirited but limited Scotland were never allowed more than the fleeting sniff of one. This was as much a reaffirmation of Australia's enduring status as the best defensive team in the world as an indictment of Scottish resources.

France lacked conviction against Australia, Scotland the know-how, so England must produce a combination of both, knowing that nothing less than a full-frontal assault at Twickenham will be good enough to banish the depressing prospect of Europe's finest being seen off by the patched-up word champions.

England must catch them by surprise, an element almost totally alien in pre-Clive Woodward days but one which their imaginative manager has never shied from.

Do not be surprised, therefore, if he chooses to spring another tomorrow by injecting some sorely needed pace behind the scrum, with Balshaw coming in at outside centre.

As England wait to build on their 27-22 victory over the Springboks last time out in Bloemfontein, their opponents wasted no time in launching a charm offensive.

Wallabies coach Rod Macqueen led the praise.

'England showed in South Africa that they are playing a more Southern Hemisphere style than the Southern Hemisphere sides,' he said. 'Clive Woodward says a win would justify the last two years, which gives some idea of how they've focused on this match.

'We only have one combination left from the World Cup, the second row. Every other part of the team has changed, so in that respect we're like a six-cylinder car which is only firing on five.'

Scotland, by comparison, were left needing a tow home, their engine having conked out just as it has done now for 25 consecutive Tests against the Southern Hemisphere big-three since drawing with Stuart Wilson's All Blacks back in 1983.