Australia accuses England of 'mind games' after Steve Borthwick's Wallabies' 'illegal' tactics claim ahead of Twickenham showdown

Australia promised not to get dragged into ‘whingeing’ after England accused them of cheating at the breakdown.

In the refereeing meeting ahead of this weekend’s Test at Twickenham, Steve Borthwick showed multiple clips to the match official of what he believes to be illegal breakdown acts.

Borthwick highlighted Wallabies coming into the side of multiple rucks in the hope that they are monitored particularly closely in the series opener.

Wallaby captain Harry Wilson suggested Borthwick is playing mind games and disputed claims about his team’s technique.

‘Firstly, I’d like to question how many are illegal,’ said Wilson. 'And to say that they are dangerous - they are definitely not. 

'There’s no way Joe Schmidt would coach a team to be illegal at the breakdown. I think we’ve had over 2,000 rucks this year and for them to cherry-pick a couple is quite amusing. 

'We are pretty excited for the opportunity to go out there and have a fair game.

‘When a team are playing 10 or 11 Tests, any team would have some from the side, We think we are quite good at our attacking breakdown – we try to get in square, early and beat the threat – to try and make sure we have quick ball and I’ve no doubt most teams in world rugby could have.

‘But the refs have a lot on their mind, they are under the pump, and we just want to try and make it as easy as we can for them by being as square as possible, so there’s not too much whingeing about it.’