England's recent crushing domination of the Australian scrum will be the main talking point at Twickenham on Saturday but everybody in the home camp is trying desperately hard to downplay the issue.

England's victory over Australia in last year's World Cup quarter-final in Marseille was based on one of the biggest demolitions of an opposition scrum seen at such a level.

It came despite pre-match claims that the Wallaby scrum had improved markedly since it was similarly steamrollered at Twickenham in 2005.

That 2005 match was mighty loosehead Andrew Sheridan's first start for England and immediately marked him as a player to be feared, and he was again the cornerstone in Marseille.

New manager Martin Johnson has recalled Phil Vickery, Sheridan's propping partner on both those occasions, for Saturday's match but said that anyone expecting another one-sided set piece was mistaken.

"Their scrum was a weakness but they have worked hard to put it right. They went well against the All Blacks and had them under pressure," Johnson said.

"We don't think we have an advantage. It's the thing being talked about (elsewhere) but we haven't scrummaged very well lately."

Graham Rowntree, Johnson's former team-mate at Leicester and England, is the national team's scrum guru these days and was similarly cautious.

"Both packs are very different from Marseille and it's pointless comparing," he said.

"They have improved, none more so than (hooker) Stephen Moore, and we've not exactly been shoving people around in our last few games.

Rowntree, who described England's scrummaging on their June trip to New Zealand as "unacceptable", said he was also disappointed that they did not dominate against the scratch Pacific Islanders pack last week.

"It certainly wasn't what I'd hoped for," he said, adding that he felt Sheridan had not been his usual intimidating self.

The Sale giant shrugged off the criticism, saying that he had been rusty after five weeks out with a bicep injury and struggled on Twickenham's sodden surface.

"It was a bit messy against the Islanders and we have to work better as a unit and direct our power," he said, before toeing the party line on the Wallabies.

"I enjoyed those two games but it means little for Saturday."

Vickery also said that anyone looking at tapes of Australia's games over the last year would be surprised by their improvement.