One of Australia’s front-line front rowers says he is confident the Wallaby scrum is on the up.
The Australian setpiece has come under huge criticism over recent weeks after it was made to look little better than amateur against England in particular.
Martin Johnson’s men were awarded two penalty tries in the first Test in Perth before dominating once more in Sydney a week later.
The scrum is an area where the Wallabies have shown massive improvement since the 2007 World Cup but they appeared to be back at square one this summer.
However, that weakness can be attributed to a nasty injury list according to one of the country’s front-row regulars who missed the clashes with Fiji, England and Ireland.
Benn Robinson has become a fulcrum of the Australian scrum in recent times, establishing a reputation as a building block on which setpiece success can finally be built.
The 25-year-old is expected to play a major role at next year’s World Cup and against the Lions in 2013 and has been sorely missed so far this summer.
Robinson and fellow first-choice front-row stars Ben Alexander and Stephen Moore all sat out the recent Tests due to injury, as the Wallabies were forced to call upon a trio of international rookies – props Ben Daley and Salesi Ma'afu and hooker Saia Faingaa – for the three encounters against England and Ireland.
And while Robinson accepts that the first-Test showing against England in particular wasn’t acceptable, he believes the experience gained by his replacement and the rest of the new front row will eventually be a positive for Australian rugby.
"If you look at that first performance against England, the penalty tries, it's not good enough is it, you can't be having that," said Robinson, who should be fit for Australia’s Tri Nations opener against South Africa on July 24.
"But it's one of those things that those guys got thrown into the deep end and you are going to learn from that.
"Our scrum over the past three or four years has been progressing well.
"It's tough to watch it out there. I felt it from the sidelines as well because I've been a part of the squad for four or five years now.
"To see the guys struggle out there is tough, but you have to nut out those penalties because they can cost you the game."
