In at Cole face – England's battering ram relishing battle with Wallabies

When England's most important player – the one individual who can reasonably be described as a hot favourite for a Lions Test spot in Wallaby country next summer – starts waxing lyrical on the delicate subject of pulverisation, you know the Australians are already in his thoughts. Dan Cole, the Leicester tight-head prop, is the man charged with making the tourists squeal in the scrum at Twickenham on Saturday.

"Will we pulverise them? We'll attempt to do so," he said. "You're always looking for forward dominance, especially at the set-piece."

By southern hemisphere standards, the Wallabies are a pushover: England have won 16 of the 40 Tests between the two nations, compared with 12 of 35 against the Springboks and a miserable half-dozen in 34 meetings with the All Blacks. If England get it right up front, they are generally in with a shout. If they get it wrong, they have no chance.

Cole knows this to be true. "It's probably a cultural thing," he said. "The way we play the game in England, the set-piece is a dominant factor. If you look at rugby in the southern hemisphere, it is less so.

"I've watched the tape of their game in Paris last weekend and while their scrummaging was rough at times, there were other occasions when they were switched on enough to cause the French some problems."

The Wallabies are not above a touch of sharp practice when it comes to survival at the sharp end. Under Eddie Jones, who guided them to the World Cup final in 2003, they were the masters of scrummaging. Now, they have taken to withdrawing a prop early in the game, allowing him to rest for half an hour and then reintroducing him, fresh as a daisy, for the last knockings. Yet with Cole is in the best shape of his career, the set-piece set-to in this weekend's game should be the least of England's problems.