Doubts resurface over Wallaby scrum

The Wallabies' maligned scrum has come under renewed scrutiny after its faltering response to Irish intensity in their World Cup Pool C match at the weekend.
Not only did Australia succumb to just their second pool defeat in seven tournaments, but their scrum credibility took a fearful pounding from (loosehead prop) Cian Healy's driven Irish pack.
The Wallabies have been rebuilding confidence in their scrum since the Marseille quarterfinal mauling at the previous World Cup when the Australian pack disintegrated under the pressure generated by the Andy Sheridan-led English forwards.
While the Australians are renowned for their innovative attacking backs, the same cannot be said of their scrum.
The darkest day and the one often recalled as the nadir came at Twickenham in 2005 when the Wallaby pack was forced to play for the last 10 minutes against England with uncontested scrums after prop Al Baxter was sent off.
The England pack dominated - there were 16 re-set scrums - and prop Matt Dunning was carried from the field after a scrum collapse leaving only seven forwards as Australia surrendered in a humiliating 16-26 loss.
The Wallabies' scrum has carried that stigma but there were signs of a marked improvement under the coaching of Robbie Deans and the forwards were ready to make a statement at the World Cup.
The Australian pack earned kudos for shunting the vaunted Springbok pack in their gutsy win in Durban and they carried it on to claim their first Tri-Nations triumph in a decade over the All Blacks in Brisbane last month.
"We've given the scrum a fair bit more focus this year, we've spoken about it a lot more between games," hooker Stephen Moore said ahead of the tournament.
"That's helped the forward pack to buy into its importance and it's going to be very important that our scrum and line-out are solid for the next two months."
Initial signs were encouraging in their World Cup opener against Italy when Azzurri coach Nick Mallett singled out Australia's scrum for praise.
Italy has a big reputation for forward play, but the Azzurri failed to make it count against the Wallabies and South African Mallett complimented Australia's pack for setting up the platform for a four-try victory.
Roll on to combustible Eden Park last weekend and the Wallabies were looking to carry on their new hard-won reputation against the men in green.
But with the pressure on and Ireland playing above themselves the Wallaby pack blinked, losing one of their scrums and conceding scrum penalties which proved the difference in a shattering 6-15 loss.
The Wallabies clearly missed flank David Pocock and hooker Moore and while New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence's performance was criticised, the Australian pack was still guilty of collapsing on numerous occasions, which led to a string of costly penalties.
"There was no doubt there was an education, particularly for a number of players who are in their first World Cup and we have to learn more if we are to push on and achieve anything," Deans said.
The Wallabies must now do what no team has done at a World Cup and come back from a pool game loss and lift the Webb Ellis Cup.
Australia's only other loss in the group phase was to South Africa (18-27) in Cape Town at the 1995 World Cup, when the Springboks went on to claim an emotional victory under skipper Francois Pienaar.
England were crushed 36-0 by South Africa in the group stage at the 2007 World Cup and failed to land the big prize, despite advancing to the final against the Boks a few weeks later.
So the odds are against the Wallabies fighting back from their stunning Irish upset to win their third Webb Ellis Cup.
But what may linger beyond New Zealand 2011 is the yoke the Wallabies' forwards may have to shoulder that they remain suspect under sustained pressure.
The Wallaby pack still has time at the World Cup to prove their critics wrong.