England vs Australia: Tough-guy Michael Cheika has given Aussie pack its bite back

For many years, the way to beat Australia was to beat them up in the forwards. They have always had aggressive players but when it came to mauling and scrummaging they were often exposed as was seen against England at the 2007 World Cup.

However, that view of the Wallabies has changed under head coach Michael Cheika, who came into the job determined to get those key areas right. Cheika was an aggressive player and I hear from the Wallabies he still likes to put the boots on and get involved in training.

He is not the sort of coach who stands back and yells instructions from afar. When he played, Cheika was quite confrontational — and when you look back at the Wallabies before he arrived, it could be said they lacked a bit of aggression. Under his control that is changing.

Cheika knows that if you want to showcase all the back-line talent, then those other key parts of the team must function — and he has worked really hard at that.

Having changed that attitude, I believe Australia will have noted that Wales took England on up front and caused real problems. I am sure the Wallabies will try to follow suit at Twickenham on Saturday now their pack is a strength, not a weakness.

I really like the look of the Wallabies back row, with Michael Hooper on the openside and David Pocock operating at No8. Pocock has been outstanding — and the ball carrying, along with the work he is doing at the breakdown, is really impressive, because he is arriving as the second or third man and can go for the turnover. This creates a real problem for the opposition because they are concentrating on clearing out the first or second guy — and then along comes Pocock to steal the ball. It is, ironically, the way that Toulon use Steffon Armitage, who England decided not to pick because he plays in France.

Australia changed their eligibility rules to allow them to bring in Armitage’s Toulon team-mates Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell — and they have provided the squad with Test experience, as well as back-line skills.

When you have great ball players out wide and a really effective back row, you need quick ball — and Giteau is a great decision maker to bring that all together. It means Australia have game breakers right across the back line.