Stephen Moore confident Australia will combat England aggression
Friday 10 June 2016 11:17, UK
Australia skipper Stephen Moore is confident his team are prepared for whatever aggression England might bring to Saturday's opening Test.
Moore looked unimpressed on Friday when faced with a string of questions about the assertions of England coach Eddie Jones that the three-match series could turn out to be the rugby equivalent of cricket's "Bodyline" Ashes series.
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The "Bodyline" tag is a reference to England's tactics in the 1932-33 Ashes series, which were considered by critics to be intimidating and physically threatening.
Moore said: "Test rugby is physical, probably more so than Super Rugby, we know the importance of that, we've prepared for that and we want to make sure that part of our game is solid tomorrow,.
"That is one part of the game, but it is an important one. Eddie's always been a great fan of cricket, which is, I guess, why he used that analogy."
Moore has won 102 caps for Australia, 24 of them against the All Blacks and 18 against the Springboks, and he is equally confident that the promised physicality would not cause problems for French referee Romain Poite.
"He's very much his own man, and he'll ref the game the way he sees it," the 33-year-old hooker said.
