THE British media, which had turned hunting down and maiming the Wallabies scrum into a national sport, yesterday did a 180-degree turn and heaped praise on the Australian pack.

The Sunday Times's Stephen Jones and Sunday Telegraph's Paul Ackford, who a week ago wrote long articles criticising the Australian pack, in particular tighthead prop Al Baxter, had only good words for the visiting scrum after the Twickenham win.

"Let us be fair to Baxter and his coaches," Jones wrote. "By the end, Australia were even blissfully comfortable up front, a damaging scrum by them leading to a crucial score."

Ackford wrote: "Full marks to the Aussie scrum. In … the second half it was England who were under pressure. Phil Vickery was penalised for illegal binding and the Wallabies nicked one against the head and shunted England into all sorts of disarray at another.

"I had my doubts about Al Baxter and his mates before the match, but, when he wanted to be, Baxter was strong on his own ball."

But it was hard to beat the Telegraph's Mark Reason: "As a symbol of Australia's superiority, it was absolute. The rest of the pack went about patting props Robinson and Al Baxter on the back. The last time Baxter was patted on the back, he was a burping baby."