Wallaby front row need to improve - or else

Tony Woodcock admits he wasn't sure if his injured calf would hold up through the Brisbane test. Ross Land / Getty Images

Ted and Knuckles are squaring off again, this time over the merits of their scrum.

When Graham "Ted" Henry dipped into his gamesmanship kitbag this week to suggest his frontrow had a psychological edge against the Wallabies, the counter came quickly from John "Knuckles" Connolly.

His scrum carried no scars from the reverses they endured in defeats at Christchurch and Brisbane, they were ready to tough it out at Eden Park tomorrow.

Young props Rodney Blake and Greg Holmes had learned a great deal from their tussles with the All Black machine. With each outing they felt more confident, they had more tools to deal with scrummaging at the highest level.

Maybe, maybe not. Henry did not think so and publicly charged his frontrow to keep the heat on the Wallabies.

The Bledisloe Cup had been retained and the Tri-Nations trophy was within sniffing range but Eden Park was no time for sentimental selections. Carl Hayman, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock had done the business twice against the Wallabies and needed to do it again.

"I don't think our players have got any scars, I've seen no evidence of that at all," Connolly said from the safety of the sideline.

The Wallaby coach found some sympathy from All Black loosehead prop Tony Woodcock who cautioned against excessive New Zealand optimism.

The Wallabies were derailed in Christchurch when they lost a man to the sinbin and apart from a spell after halftime in Brisbane, they were solid.

"They have improved and there is no doubt we will have to lift again, we can't rest on our past work. The challenge is certainly there for us," Woodcock cautioned.

How much can the Wallabies improve in the two weeks since their last test against the All Blacks?

"They can do plenty in that time. In a couple of days you can do a few things but in a longer period you can do a lot," Woodcock said.

There was little chance the Wallabies would start the test with any inferior thoughts but it was pleasing Henry had encouraged his men to work on that strategy.

"It is good in a way that the coaches have faith in you to do it again, that they have given us licence to do our job."

It was the result of some extensive work on the setpiece with plenty of input from scrum guru Mike Cron.

Woodcock confessed he had held his nerve about getting through his last test in Brisbane. He had aggravated a calf problem which kept him out of the last month of the Super 14 and had been a doubtful starter all week.

"I felt it a couple of times during the game and knew if it went again it would be six to eight weeks out. But it held and now it feels great."

His opponent tomorrow, the bulky Rodney Blake, had a useful technique and the whole right side of the Wallaby scrum had steadied.

"He will be pretty good I think and it does take you time to find your feet at this level," said Woodcock.

So was he comfortable now after 20 tests in the black No 1 jersey?

"Nah, once you say that you are in trouble and we are getting plenty of heat from our reserves anyway. Sometimes those sessions can be harder than matches."

Tighthead colleague Hayman brought a similar philosophy.

"The moment you are confident in scrummaging is when you get a hiding so you need to be mentally on your game the whole time. The minute you think you are going to push someone around you are kidding yourself."

Hayman was not prepared to forecast how the scrums would go tomorrow.

He did not like making predictions nor was he ready to pinpoint the All Blacks' best scrum work this season.

Things were going "reasonably well" but in each test, the All Blacks had to prepare as if it was their first assignment.

He was unsure how much improvement there was left, he would like to know the answer but each week there was work to be done.

The All Black frontrowers had been pitched into the spotlight more since the setpiece emphasis was ramped up with Henry's regime. They would battle through that and anyway, Hayman said, it was better to be talking about dominance than disintegration.

The danger for any side was complacency and there was no sign of that in the All Blacks.