Wales to play on Aussies' mental scars

14 April 2012

Wales intend to undermine Australia's pack on Saturday with a ferocious onslaught in the scrum aimed at resurrecting the ghosts of the tourists' humiliations last season.

The Wallabies were routed by the England eight at Twickenham and fared little better in Cardiff, where another embarrassing lesson in the dark art of scrummaging led to a penalty try for Wales, en route to a 24-22 victory.

Eddie Jones subsequently lost his job as Australia coach and was replaced by John Connolly, formerly of Bath and Swansea. 'Knuckles' has attempted to bolster his side's ailing set-piece play but judging by recent evidence, Wales coach Gareth Jenkins is not convinced they have made great strides.

He said: 'I think it's well-documented that, if there was an Achilles heel in the last Tri-Nations, it was the scrum. It was a factor, no doubt about it.'

Five of the Wallaby forwards who started last year's game are in the mix to play on Saturday and Wales are rubbing their hands at the opportunity to re-open some not-so-old wounds.

Lions prop Gethin Jenkins, recalled in place of Duncan Jones, believes the visitors cannot escape the psychological impact of the punishment inflicted on them 12 months ago. He said: 'Yeah, I think there'll be some scars. If you've been somewhere and taken a hiding in the scrum, you're going to be thinking about that the next time you go there.

'We can take some benefits from our performance in the scrum last year. If someone is playing against the person they came up against then, there will be quite a bit of banter flying around out there.'

Wales promoted Llanelli flanker Gavin Thomas to the bench yesterday, in place of Chris Horsman, the Worcester prop forced to return to his club as part of a Premier Rugby agreement restricting the release of players for matches outside the official autumn 'window'.

Lions No 8 Michael Owen has been added to the squad in place of Brent Cockbain, in light of the lock's 20-day suspension for stamping.

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