Australia Denies Breakdown Claims Ahead of Twickenham

England coach Steve Borthwick met match referee Nika Amashukeli ahead of Saturday’s Test at Twickenham and showed multiple clips alleging persistent illegal side-entries and dangerous clear-outs by Australia that went largely unpunished in recent fixtures. Reporting in The Telegraph suggested there could be as many as 40 attacking ruck arrivals that might be interpreted as side entries, with around 20 deemed clear-cut, and raised player-welfare concerns. Australia captain Harry Wilson dismissed the accusations as "amusing", accused England of cherry-picking and mind games, defended coach Joe Schmidt, and said the actions were not illegal or dangerous after a season of more than 2,000 rucks. Observers pointed to inconsistency in officiating — only seven penalties for side-entry were recorded across the Rugby Championship, with the Wallabies penalised once. Both teams said they will now wait to see how the match official polices the breakdown in the high-profile Test.