Aussie front row missing in action

England 26, Australia 16.

Australians don't do gallant defeat.

They will not have woken up this morning, watched through clenched hands the rerun of this intriguing 80 minutes, witnessed their gold and green laying siege to the England line in the final moments - against all the odds, against all the possession - and thought proudly to themselves: "Didn't we do well, seeing as we hardly had the ball?"

No, they will look at the latest beating, put it alongside their previous six and think: "Aussies don't lose seven in a row. Not at rugby, not at tiddlywinks, not at downhill skiing, not at nothing."

And Eddie Jones will face a high jump he will palpably have no chance of winning. Cue yet another Aussie loss.

But if they took time to see the hole their coach has in his armoury, they would understand that it is called the front row - Australia haven't got one worthy of the name.

Not when you compare it to the mammoth space Andrew Sheridan occupied. Twickenham might well have seen the birth of a folk hero yesterday. Be sure, barbies will not be lit in his honour.

But maybe they should be, as Big Ted, the qualified bricklayer, exposed Australia's shortcoming just when they most need it. This powerhouse paucity must be addressed, quickly. Sure, the Wallabies have the bounding talent outside to launch a thousand counterattacks.

And as England were left to reflect on yet another performance when forward dominance was not turned into points, Australia were left to imagine what they could do with such an embarrassment of territorial riches.

They will stop imagining soon, bring together a pack that the creativity and inventiveness of those such as Chris Latham so obviously deserve, and then the rest of the world will have to watch out.

Believe it, Australia will one day put paid to the growing theory that there are only two world-class union teams operating in Australasia at the minute - New Zealand and the New Zealand reserves.

- INDEPENDENT