England's forwards close down Wallaby Tevita Kuridrani

As England seek an historic series win on Australian soil, we look at five talking points ahead of the second Test in Melbourne...

Scrums and Scott Sio

In the wake of the Brisbane Test, the England scrum was criticised by former Wallaby coach Bob Dwyer, who questioned the performance of referee Romain Poite and his assistants.

"How anyone could have allowed Dan Cole to scrummage the way he did was absolutely beyond me," Dwyer said.

Former Australia hooker Phil Kearns also waded in, piling pressure on Saturday's referee Craig Joubert. But Eddie Jones laughed off the accusations as one-sided.

Alex Corbisiero analyses the scrum battle between England and Australia in the first Test Alex Corbisiero analyses the scrum battle between England and Australia in the first Test

"Every side I coach, I coach them to play legally," said Jones. "We want to play legally, we want to scrum straight, we want to scrum square, we want to scrum at them.

"We'll let the referee adjudicate on Saturday. I've got great confidence in Craig Joubert - he'll referee the game and he won't let Phil Kearns referee the game.

"If Phil Kearns was refereeing the game, Australia would win every time."

Both of Australia's starting props from Brisbane have been replaced for this weekend's clash.

Scott Sio was shown a yellow card last Saturday after repeated scrum infringements, and though Cheika refused to blame Sio for England's dominance up front, the Wallaby coach hinted he didn't want officials to go into the game with any preconceived ideas about who to blame when scrums collapsed or fractured.

Scott Sio packs into the scrum against Dan Cole in Brisbane

"Obviously, when your prop goes to the sin bin, there's some type of perception there about what he's doing or what is going on," said Cheika.

"He'd only given away one penalty but I want to make sure there's no perception about that at all.

"We're just here to scrum square and hard and push as hard as we can. That's what we'll be doing."

Bench splits and breakdowns

Australia opted for a six-two split between forwards and backs in Brisbane, with Dean Mumm covering back row and second row alongside lock James Horwill and flanker Sean McMahon.

England opted for the more traditional balance of five forward and three backs, but in the second Test the coaches have switched tactics.

Cheika, who lost David Pocock to an eye socket injury in the wake of the opening Test, has promoted McMahon to the starting XV and used the No 8's spot on the bench for an extra pair of hands behind the scrum.

Jones, meanwhile, who had Courtney Lawes covering the back row last week, has brought in Jack Clifford as additional loose forward cover.

Courtney Lawes can cover second row as well as the back row

Jones now has the luxury of Maro Itoje and Lawes to cover both second row and back row, while a specialist lock and flanker remain available on the bench.

Should Saturday's encounter come down to the battle at the breakdown and set-piece, England are well placed to compete for 80 minutes with plenty of fresh legs to call upon in the forwards.

History makers?

Eddie Jones remains unbeaten as coach of England, and as expressed by former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry, is constructing a side capable of beating the world's best.

"He's concentrated on that English team being very physical, very abrasive, and they're playing that way," said Henry. "They out-passioned the Aussies.

Sir Graham Henry thinks Eddie Jones is going to make England a big force in world rugby over the next few years Sir Graham Henry thinks Eddie Jones is going to make England a big force in world rugby over the next few years

"They were impressive. They're going to be a big force in world rugby over the next few years."

Having already swept through the Six Nations to win the Grand Slam, England now focus their energy on what would be their first series win in Australia.

In 1975, 1988 and 2006 England were beaten in both games of two-Test tours, before sharing the spoils in the 2010 edition with a win in Sydney. Last week Jones' side took one step towards winning the 2016 series with their first win in Brisbane.

If England are to push for greater international honours, sealing a series against a side above them in the rankings will go a long way to announcing their ambitions.

Highlights of England's 39-28 win over Australia in Brisbane Highlights of England's 39-28 win over Australia in Brisbane

The niggle

The passion from the England team in the Brisbane battle was on full display. The forwards roared in approval each time a penalty was won from a scrum or at the breakdown.

After the Test, Wallaby scrum-half Nick Phipps remarked that the England team were "nastier" than previous teams he'd faced, and credited Jones for the change.

"They were definitely more confrontational than in the World Cup, but that's Eddie isn't it... he brings out the best in teams," Phipps said.

England coach Eddie Jones says his side will 'come out swinging' in the next game England coach Eddie Jones says his side will 'come out swinging' in the next game

"They tried to get up in our faces and impose themselves on the game, which is great. We've got to relish that and enjoy it, weather it and get through it."

Jones did nothing to squash that image when he issued a warning this week that England would come out firing in Melbourne.

"They will come out swinging, we know that," Jones said.

"History shows that in the 2001 Lions series and in the 2013 Lions series, they lost the first Test and in the second Test all hell breaks loose and I am sure we are going to see the same on Saturday.

"We will be up for it one way or the other; we will be either Muhammad Ali rope-a-dope or we will be Joe Frazier and come out swinging. I think we will come out swinging."

Australia head coach Michael Cheika insists he's only focused on his side, and won't be influenced by any speculation about England Australia head coach Michael Cheika insists he's only focused on his side, and won't be influenced by any speculation about England

Cheika responded by saying his side enjoyed the typically rough aspects of a Test match, but vowed that Australia would not be brought down by English distractions away from play.

"I'm not concerned about physicality, but we've probably got to deal with the niggle a bit better," said Cheika. "There was a lot of niggle off the ball in Brisbane.

"That's not physicality, that's something else. Niggle's the stuff you do off the ball.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not against it. If that's your strategy then that's your strategy, good on them."

Pressure on Hooper

Pocock's injury is a big blow to Australia's hopes of victory in the second Test. One of their warriors - as indicated by the fact he played on after picking up the injury in Brisbane - Pocock's main threat is at the breakdown.

Despite playing at No 8 for Cheika, the Zimbabwe-born loose forward is a natural openside, with world-class credentials as a fetcher.

David Pocock suffered a fracture eye socket on Saturday

Pocock's combination with No 7 Michael Hooper at the World Cup helped guide the Aussies to the final, as teams found themselves unable to cope with the increased pressure at the tackle area.

With Pocock ruled out of the series, the onus of disrupting and stealing England ball falls squarely on the shoulders of Hooper.

The 24-year-old had a poor start to the Waratahs' Super Rugby campaign, however he found form in the build-up to the England series.

Michael Hooper celebrates scoring a try during the Brisbane Test

But will he be able to cope with the extra load at the ruck? No 8 Sean McMahon and Scott Fardy are hard workers and big hitters, but not known for the jackal quality of an out-and-out fetcher.

With Farrell on form with the boot, Hooper can't afford to put a foot wrong at the ruck in his own half, and the arriving England forwards will remind him of that at each breakdown.

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Dane Haylett-Petty, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Rob Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Nick Phipps, 1 James Slipper, 2 Stephen Moore (c), 3 Sekope Kepu, 4 Rory Arnold, 5 Sam Carter, 6 Scott Fardy, 7 Michael Hooper, 8 Sean McMahon.

Replacements: Tatafu Polota-Nau, Toby Smith, Greg Holmes, Dean Mumm, Ben McCalman, Nick Frisby, Christian Lealiifano, Luke Morahan.

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 6 Chris Robshaw, 7 James Haskell, 8 Billy Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Matt Mullan, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Joe Launchbury, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Jack Clifford, 22 Danny Care, 23 Elliot Daly.

Watch the second Test between Australia and England live on Sky Sports 1 from 11am on Saturday. Catch the match for £6.99 with a NOW TV day pass.