Australian World Cup-winning coach Bob Dwyer has turned the heat up on England ahead of the crunch World Cup clash, accusing them of being scrum cheats.

Dwyer, who oversaw the Wallabies' 1991 World Cup triumph that included a final victory over England at Twickenham, believes England loosehead prop Joe Marler is the culprit, boring in at an illegal angle.

England milked scrum penalties in their win over Fiji and loss to Wales, with Dwyer believing the decisions should have gone the other way.

GETTY IMAGES England prop Joe Marler is accused of using illegal angles to gain scrum dominance and Bob Dwyer has urged referee Romain Poite to address this in the looming clash with Australia.

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He has urged Wallabies coach Michael Cheika to seek out referee Romain Poite on this issue ahead of the crunch Pool A showdown at Twickenham on Sunday (NZ time).

"So much of the scrum is based on perception," Dwyer told the Telegraph newspaper.

"The English work on having a reputation for legal scrummaging while doing the opposite. If I was Michael Cheika, I would be asking the referee is that [Marler angling in] allowed.

"Let's hope they are not allowed to do that because England won a few penalties against Fiji that I would have awarded in the opposite direction. I do concede it is extremely difficult to referee."

Dwyer suggested it was a strategy from England.

"I have thought this for a couple of years but I originally attributed it to Mako Vunipola. Then I saw Joe Marler starting and they were both doing exactly the same thing. It must be by design.

"Neither of them scrummage square. Both of them angle in. Invariably that is at 45 degrees, but sometimes that ends up being at 90 degrees. Then when I see the opposition being penalised, I find that extremely hard to understand.

"It is the easiest thing in the world to do because the loosehead can go where he wants. It is a simple thing to do: you start off at an angle and gradually increase your angle.

"You only have to look back to a couple of years ago and England were loath to start with Marler because even though he was good around the park, his scrummaging was not up to standard.

"Now we have a situation whereas he is allowed to scrummage at 45-90 degrees, he has become a very good scrummager. I find that impossible to disregard."

Dwyer isn't alone with this theory. South African Jonathan Kaplan, judged the world's best referee during his extensive time with a whistle, tweeted during England's loss to Wales: "I'd like to see if the England pack is square on the loosehead side ... just the once."

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England are sure to look to target the Wallabies scrum which has been under the microscope for several years, seen as a weak link.

But Dwyer believes there have been major gains under the tutelage of Australia's scrum guru, Argentina's Mario Ledesma.

"I heard Clive Woodward come out and say, 'We have got club props who would make it into the Australia team'," Dwyer said.

"Actually, the Wallabies have been scrummaging extremely well all season. They put it over both the All Blacks and Springboks.

"I think that the Australia scrum is really good. I don't think Australia will have a big advantage, but I think England will be hanging on in the scrum. Sekope Kepu on the tighthead has been very good and young Scott Sio has been a revelation at 22 years of age.

"I expect it to be a big contest and it is an important part of the game as we all know. It just depends on how well Romain Poite, a noted scrum referee, officiates it."