KEY POINTS:
When John O'Neill and David Campese start firing shots at England it means just one thing. But this time, on the eve of the Wallabies' World Cup quarter-final against the defending champions, England aren't biting - at least not yet.
O'Neill, the Australian Rugby Union boss, is one of world rugby's most astute operators. He's also not above a spot of verbal gamesmanship.
"Everyone hates England. It's a statement of the bleeding obvious," he said this week.
Warming to his theme, O'Neill posed the question: why did France win the cup hosting rights?
"No one would vote for England. The only votes England could be assured of back then were their own. Sadly, this is all a byproduct of their born-to-rule mentality. It's been there for a long time and nothing has changed."
Then step forward Campese, one of the great footballers but plagued by a serial foot-in-mouth problem. "It would be the worst thing for rugby if the Wallabies don't beat England. It would be devastating."
And so on. It's all tripe, playground trash talk. It's almost comical but after a while it just gets boring.
But in the past, England have taken the bait. This time there is a sense they knew it was coming and have laughed it off.
"They're calling us boring? We've known we're boring for ages," veteran lock Ben Kay amiably retorted. "It's nothing new. I enjoy the Australian psyche, actually.
"When I first started playing, that sort of thing would get under my skin. But I've got a lot of Aussie mates and I realise they're all like that."
There is history between the two, and that's not even getting into the history of the Ashes. It's the old country against the colonial upstarts.
England were goaded by Australia to abandon their forward-oriented game for the 1991 World Cup final. England moved away from what had worked for them till then, threw the ball about, and lost 12-6.
In 1995 a late Rob Andrew dropped goal got England a slim quarter-final win.
Four years ago, Jonny Wilkinson's extra-time dropped goal sealed a dramatic 20-17 win in the final in Sydney.
On that occasion, Australia's papers hammered England, but most the following Monday paid due credit.
Expect more hot air before Sunday morning's kickoff at Marseille's Stade Velodrome.
