Wednesday 30 November 2016 20:34, UK
England forwards coach Steve Borthwick has mounted a strong defence of prop Dan Cole amid accusations from Australia that he has been scrummaging illegally for his entire career.
The rivals meet in Saturday's climax to the autumn series at Twickenham with the set-piece forming the battleground for an exchange of verbal blows between head coaches Eddie Jones and Michael Cheika.
Jones lit the fuse immediately after England's 27-14 win over Argentina on Saturday by claiming the Wallabies scrummage illegally, adding that he would seek a meeting with referee Jaco Peyper to highlight his concerns.
But forwards coach Borthwick told Sky Sports News HQ: "I'm very, very happy that we have Dan Cole on the team. He's a fantastic player, a brilliant person who has a great effect on the rest of the group. I know that the players love having him as part of our group.
"Watching him in training this week, he's as professional as ever and as competitive in training as ever and that's been the same every single week that I've seen him.
"Jaco's an excellent referee and he will referee the game as he sees it on Saturday, we have no doubts about that."
England's live scrummaging session in training on Tuesday was overseen by referee Wayne Barnes.
"We always have a referee in training. For the last couple of weeks it's been JP Doyle and when we went to Portugal, Greg Garner came out," Borthwick said.
"Every Tuesday and Thursday we have a referee in our sessions and there will be a referee there on Thursday as well. We're grateful for that support from the referees."
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