Mortlock fears England flyers
New Wallaby captains warns about 'pace' threat
Australia may have outscored England by three tries to none in their 34-3 victory in the first test in Sydney last week, but Wallaby stand-in captain Stirling Mortlock has warned his teammates to be wary of England's pace in Saturday's rematch at Melbourne's Telstra Dome.
Despite Australia's obvious superiority in last week's encounter in Sydney, Mortlock believe England showed enough to suggest they have the ability to unlock the home defence with an injection of genuine pace from a new-look back-line.
England coach Andy Robinson made sweeping changes to his team for the second Test, but he has kept faith with the likes of Tom Varndell and Mathew Tait, who moves to the wing from the centre.
Mortlock knows there is enough "toe" in the England three-quarter line to pose a serious threat.
"England have a lot of toe at set-piece time," said Mortlock.
"Our defensive pattern wasn't as good as it should have been [last Sunday] and they exposed us a number of times. When you have guys that are that fast – and there are lots of them – it makes it tougher to defend.
"A couple of times one on one, their pace shone through. The challenge is to make sure that doesn't happen again."
Mortlock, 29, becomes the 73rd player to captain the Wallabies after regular skipper George Gregan was dropped to the bench.
Mortlock paid tribute to Gregan, calling him an "amazing leader", but insisted he has no pretensions of leading the side on a permanent basis.
"He has played for 12, 13 years at the top and he is an unbelievable competitor and is always looking to better himself as a player and a leader. That is the main attribute that has helped him stand the test of time," said Mortlock.
Gregan will sit on the bench for the first time since 1996. If he does take the field on Saturday night, the 33-year-old will break former England prop Jason Leonard's world record of 119 international appearances.
