Australia v England:ROCKY ELSOM fears referee Romain Poite's memory of Australia's scrum being demolished by England will count against them in tomorrow's second Test.

The Wallabies’ rookie front row was crushed and prop Salesi Ma’afu sin-binned as England’s pack earned two penalty tries.

Australia head coach Robbie Deans has kept faith with Ma’afu, hooker Saia Faingaa and loosehead prop Ben Daley for tomorrow’s showdown in Sydney.

Elsom has been impressed by the front row’s reaction to all the criticism this week – but he knows how important it is they make an immediate and positive impression on the officials.

Asked whether the perception of Australia as a weak scrummaging team had returned, Elsom said: “I think that’s the way it works. Even if you watch a replay it is hard to see exactly what is going on in the scrum. It is not until you watch in super slow-mo a few times that you realise where it went wrong.

“There is an element of that perception that goes on and for a referee who has to make a decision on the spot, that’s going to play a part in the decision.

“The first few engagements will be reasonably telling. Part of being a good scrum and a good front row is being able to deal with whatever the referee serves up. The guys know that.”

Elsom insisted the front row, who boast just five caps between them, should not be singled out for blame.

“Salesi has been one of the best scrummagers of the Super 14. Sometimes combinations take time, and they came up against an England side who had their combinations pretty well down pat.

“There has been a lot of pressure on the front row but they have responded really well.

“When you look at last week, our eight didn’t perform as well as their eight in the scrum”

The Wallabies expect England to broaden their ambition this week after spending most of the Perth Test attempting to hammer home their forward dominance.

Elsom, like most of Australia, was surprised Martin Johnson did not include Jonny Wilkinson as an additional playmaker and kicking option.

“I think they are probably going to change things up,” said Elsom.

“I guess they played their best footy when they attacked well.

“They showed at the end of the Six Nations they are a better side when they attack, so that’s probably what they’re looking to do. We definitely expected Jonny to be picked.”

AUSTRALIA:J O'Connor; D Mitchell, R Horne, M Giteau, D Ioane, Q Cooper, W Genia; B Daley, S Faingaa. S Ma'afu, D Mumm, N Sharpe, R Elsom (capt), D Pocock, R Brown. Replacements:H Edmonds, J Slipper M Chisholm, M Hodgson, L Burgess, B Barnes, A Ashley-Cooper.

ENGLAND:B Foden; M Cueto, M Tindall, S Hape, C Ashton; T Flood, B Youngs; T Payne, S Thompson, D Cole, C Lawes, T Palmer, T Croft, L Moody (capt), N Easter. Replacements:G Chuter, D Wilson, S Shaw, J Haskell, D Care, J Wilkinson, D Armitage. Referee: Romain Poite (France).