England v Australia has become a battle of excuses - Alastair Hignell column
On this week's evidence, the relationship between the two rugby nations seems to have turned tepid.
The rivalry may not have always been healthy, the antagonism not always restrained, but there was never any doubt that any and every encounter between England and Australia mattered hugely.
Back in the seventies both teams were keen to get their retaliation in first – the infamous "Battle of Ballymore" in 1975 was only one in a series of brutal clashes between the white and the gold.
Fists and boots did the talking for most of the eighties as well, but come the nineties it was the turn of the wind-up merchants.
Australian motor-mouth David Campese famously got under English skins in the build-up to the World Cup final in 1991 – and, characteristically, has never since knowingly turned down the chance to have a go at the Poms.
The advent of professionalism turned the media spotlight into a searchlight.
Daily briefings became the norm and the hacks all but had their stories written for them by coaches intent only on securing a psychological edge for their players.
England's Clive Woodward – whose formative years as a coach were spent Down Under – was the master of the barbed comment about Australia, and his Wallabies counterpart Eddie Jones always gave as good as he got about England.
The war of words in the build-up to the World Cup final in 2003 – in which England unforgettably reversed the 1991 result – was relentless, fascinating and hugely entertaining.
But in the build-up to this Saturday's encounter between the two great rugby nations, the respective coaches have not so much traded insults, as excuses.
All we seem to be hearing about Australia is how they finished bottom of the Tri-Nations with only one win to their name, while last weekend's defeat in Tokyo meant that they have now lost four times to New Zealand this season, and seven times in a row.
Coach Robbie Deans is apparently under pressure, the captaincy has been changed amid rumours of a player-led revolt and several key players are missing through injury.
On top of that, there's a report that says the game Down Under is in crisis.
Crowds at Test matches have fallen by 37 per cent over the last three years, while research into the "brand health" of all sports has indicated that rugby union is regarded as the least innovative, least social and least concerned with the grass roots.
Worse still, in a very competitive sports marketplace, with cricket, rugby league and Australian Rules football all scrapping for hearts, minds and dollars, rugby union is deemed both exclusive and hard to follow.
The domestic game in England has taken a similar bashing. Guinness Premiership crowds may be up, but Wales coach Warren Gatland is only the most celebrated of the many who believe the standard is down.
England, too, have a captain and a coach under fire.
As a player Steve Borthwick was not good enough to make the Lions tour to South Africa. As a captain he has received wholehearted backing from England manager Martin Johnson, but from no-one else.
Johnson himself, heralded this time last year as the saviour of English rugby, has presided over more defeats than wins in his 11 matches in charge.
Both know that if the ratio is not balanced this autumn – with a minimum requirement of two wins from matches against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand – their positions will come under even more fire.
And then there's an injury crisis of epidemic proportions. According to the latest reports, 27 of the 64 players named by Johnson in the England and Saxons squads this summer will be unfit for duty this weekend.
It's 100 per cent certain that the England team that runs out at Twickenham will bear no resemblance to the one Johnson envisaged in August, will have no real relevance for the next World Cup , and may never take the field as an international outfit again.
But will the players be bothered by the absences and the apologies, the excuses and the explanations? Of course they won't.
Comment on this story