The Wallabies’ scrum has stood up well to northern hemisphere opposition in recent times but prop Sekope Kepu says Australia should be striving to dominate.
Australia have slowly started to move away from their infamous history of scrum woes since last year’s spring tour as they continue to come to terms with the new soft engagement laws.
There are still underlying concerns it could prove their Achilles heel at next year’s World Cup in the UK but Australia’s forwards will get a clear gauge of where they’re at against a powerful Wales side in Cardiff on Saturday.
New coach Michael Cheika is trying to build a more consistent Wallabies outfit and veteran prop Kepu believes that starts with Australia getting on top up front.
“The last couple of years we’ve been over here we’ve done pretty well (in the scrum) but that’s not good enough,” Kepu told AAP.
“That’s what Cheik’s talking about. We need get that consistency and make other teams worried about us.
“We’ve shown in the past we can do it. It’s just a matter of putting it out there every time.
“It’s a matter of building belief and that attitude and the mentality had got to be right every time, every scrum.”
There were a few signs of vulnerability in Australia’s scrum in the 40-36 win over the Barbarians at Twickenham on Saturday but the pack will be restored to full strength against Wales.
Lock Rob Simmons said the scrum had been identified as a key area of focus on this tour.
“It’s definitely a source of pride for us,” Simmons said.
“Each time we come over here the Australian scrum gets spoken about.
“I think the last few years, it’s done quite well and we’re trying to push forward and make it a world scrum.”
Australia’s pack faces a huge test in the coming weeks with the Wallabies to also face France, Ireland and England on consecutive weekends.
Saturday’s Test will be the first match played on Millennium Stadium’s new state-of-the-art hybrid pitch which combines grass turf with artificial fibres.
Wales reported it played much faster during training on Monday night and expect it to hold up well under the scrum.
