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Tearaway: Rocky Elsom - Source: Photosport -
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Skipper Rocky Elsom has declared his history-chasing Wallabies primed and ready to kick off their grand slam tour of the British Isles with victory over old foes England at Twickenham on Saturday (Sunday 0330 NZT).
"It's not going to be easy but we'd like to think that we've got enough to get over the top of them," Elsom said after the Wallabies' captain's run at the spiritual home of rugby.
England coach Martin Johnson has 27 players on the sidelines, but Elsom says that's no excuse for the hosts not to put in and he's expecting a typically torrid Test.
"We've been over here plenty of times with a lot less players than we would have liked, but the fact is they're representing England, we're representing Australia," the big flanker said.
"It's not necessarily who you could have had, it's just who you've got on the day.
"In professional sport, you play so many games that you're not going to have your best team or your potential best team at every opportunity. But that doesn't mean that you can't win."
Elsom suspects England's unfamiliar line-up may be even more dangerous with the bunch of so-called lesser lights eager to make their mark.
"When guys play their first few games, you get a lot of of excitement and energy and it brings a lot of enthusiasm to teams and that definitely helps," he said.
"English rugby has a fair bit of depth. The Guinness Premiership is a great tournament for selecting blokes. There's a lot of guys to choose from.
"They might be lesser known but there's a lot of good players in that squad that probably don't have the recognition that players who have played more than them have.
"But you wouldn't say they're lacking talent in that side."
Certainly not when England's go-to man is Test rugby's all-time leading pointscorer Jonny Wilkinson, back for his first international in 18 months.
"The English guys seem to get a big lift out of having him there," Elsom said.
"He controls his own game very well, which is comforting for the other guys, particularly when he's a pointscorer and a goalkicker.
"So he'll bring a lot of reassurance to their game and how they want to play with him there, knowing he'll be able to slot goals from pretty well anywhere inside our half."
The Wallabies are in pursuit of a rare grand slam sweep of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Former Test prop and 1984 grand slam tourist Stan Pilecki had a simple message after presenting the jerseys before Friday's captain's run.
"Win - what else can you say. Words are cheap. I mean, they've got to be motivated themselves," Pilecki said.
"How do you motivate a person who is playing for Australia? That should be motivation enough. It's been a pretty good ground for Australian sides.
"These guys are very young and they've got to find their level first; they haven't quite found it yet.
"It would be great to find it here. If they can have a good win here, I think they can have a real good tour."
