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Ben Alexander was dominant for the Brumbies. Picture: Kym Smith Source:DailyTelegraph
THREE weeks ago the Australian scrum, and prop Ben Alexander in particular, was the butt of British jokes following the capitulation to the Lions in Sydney.
But in Pretoria yesterday, against the giant Bulls front row, Alexander delivered his comeback punchline, dominating the scrum to earn redemption of sorts while leading the Brumbies to a famous 26-23 semi-final win.
George Smith's breakdown work earned him a man-of-the-match award, Tevita Kuridrani's running lines and nose for the ball earned him the match-winning try, but Alexander's mighty scrummaging laid the base.
And new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has no doubt that Australia's scrum will also hold up to the rigours of the Rugby Championship against South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina.
Lions prop Alex Corbisiero made Alexander's life hell at ANZ Stadium during the tourists' 41-16 romp in the deciding third Test - as he had done in the series opener in Brisbane.
But as McKenzie pointed out, Alexander and co. had bounced back in Melbourne, when Lions front-rower Mako Vunipola was exposed as a scrum weakness.
Asked if he is concerned about the Wallabies scrum following the capitulation against the Lions, McKenzie said: "No, I look at the scrum in its entirety, and I know from being an old prop that you don't always have good days at the office.
"You don't always have good scrums. Sometimes it goes wrong. We had a particularly good scrum in the second Test, we put the Lions scrum under a lot of pressure and everyone was talking about Vunipola."One or two changes in the pack can make a big difference to the outcome.
"People have forgotten that, but we were all over them in the second Test, particularly in the first half.
"I thought tactically the Lions did a good job in the third Test, they knew the referee well, and they worked that space pretty well.
"I think we've made a lot of progress in that area.
"You can't judge it on one scrum. You've got to ... see where we are as a group. We've got a bunch of guys that are capable."
The Wallabies have been seen as a weak scrummaging team, and after annihilations in England in 2005 and earlier this month that belief won't be changing overseas.
"The problem is if there is a poor perception, it is hard to shake," McKenzie conceded.
"A couple of bad games, and it will dog you for the next three years, people will keep talking about it.
"You can scrum well and it might take three years to expunge that."
Alexander made a statement to the new national boss, as the Brumbies pushed the Bulls scrum backward early in the game to earn a penalty.
Early in the second half the Bulls brought on replacement Morne Mellett, who represented South Africa at the 2009 junior World Cup, and again Alexander shoved him backward to earn his team another penalty.
He will face another stern test in the grand final this weekend against the 364kg Chiefs front-row.
The Brumbies must also overcome a tough schedule.
Their grand final appearance will be on the back of a 23,000km journey from Canberra to Pretoria to Hamilton in the past three weeks.
But Chiefs captain Craig Clarke won't take his side's easier schedule for granted, saying the Brumbies are capable of handling the distances.
"If you've got an experienced crew, you can deal with that, and they're experienced, I'm sure they'll be very combative," Clarke said.
"The travel does play a little factor - it's awesome to be able to prepare in your own facilities and have that extra day of training."
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