Australia back in business after sickness bug lays Michael Cheika’s men low

Fears in the Australia camp that a sickness bug could rule top stars such as Israel Folau and Bernard Foley out of Saturday’s clash with England are easing.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika names his matchday 23 tomorrow, although David Pocock — who has a neck injury — could be given until Friday to prove his fitness.

Yesterday, as many as 10 members of the playing and support staff were struck down by the bug, but the outlook is now more optimistic, even if it is too early to say definitively if players will be ruled out.

Pocock is key for Australia, but has suffered a recurrence of the sort of injury that is an occupational hazard for abrasive back-row forwards. He sat out training on Monday and only warmed up yesterday.

If fit, he would partner captain Michael Hooper, who made 20 tackles in a titanic defensive display against Italy last Saturday, seven more than anyone else in the team.

Wallaby great Simon Poidevin, who was among a raft of legends Eddie Jones predicted would offer their opinion before the game, says the rest of Australia’s pack should be “seriously embarrassed” by such statistics.

“Let’s hope the Wallabies forward pack does some soul-searching this week and asks themselves why Michael Hooper, the smallest player in the eight, ends up with twice the tackle count on average of our forward pack,” Poidevin told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Personally, if I was one of those forwards, I’d be seriously embarrassed by that statistic.”

Meanwhile, Izack Rodda might not be a familiar name to English rugby fans, but he is aiming to let them — and Maro Itoje — know exactly who he is on Saturday.

You can hardly miss the 22-year-old lock, who stands at a shade over 6ft 7in and is aiming to stand out in his first game against England.

Rodda, who plays for the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby, has been hitting the laptop to analyse England line-outs and, particularly, the contribution of Saracen Itoje.

Rodda dominated the set-piece in the 26-7 win over Italy — then got straight down to work on England and Itoje in the team room.

“[Itoje] is definitely one of their danger men,” he said. “But their whole pack is very strong and we are going to have to rise to the physical battle if we are going to be able to compete with them, but I reckon we are ready.

“They have a lot of different set-ups, which makes it harder for the caller to work out where they’re going to call. For instance, Itoje will be at the front at some line-outs, but at the back at others and they just change their personnel around and play tricks with you. “We all sit down and break down teams’ calls and where they like to win the ball. We try to develop a defensive system to try to put them under as much pressure as possible — and I think that’s what we did against Italy. It just happened to be me at the front, so I was getting the steals.”

Rodda missed last year’s tour with a shoulder injury, but is getting a run of games in the gold jersey with the World Cup a year away and getting used to rugby this side of the equator. “It is bloody cold,” he added. “But I’m starting to get some game fitness, a bit more time and I’m getting more comfortable.”