It won't be as personal but Nic White's guard is still up as the Wallabies prepare to face England and their Australian coach and "king of mind games" Eddie Jones.
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Fresh off a frustrating loss to Scotland that ended a five-game winning streak, the Wallabies will attempt to snap a seven-match losing run to England at a packed Twickenham Stadium on Saturday.
Their last meeting came in 2019, a comprehensive 40-16 defeat that knocked Australia out of the World Cup at the quarter-final stage and ended Michael Cheika's time as coach.
Cheika and Jones, once teammates at Randwick, enjoyed a long rivalry that peaked on the international stage when both would trade barbs in spicy Test build-ups.
But Australia arrived in London this week with an entirely new coaching staff, headed by New Zealander Dave Rennie, as well as a team starkly different to the one rolled by England in two years ago.
"It'll be less personal for sure," halfback White, who elevated his game during a 61-game stint in the English Premiership with Exeter between 2017-19, said.
It's nice for him to give us some praise but Eddie's the king of mind games.
- Wallabies scrumhalf Nic White
"There's always a lot in the media between Eddie and 'Cheik' ... it'll be a good chance after the (frustrating two-point loss to Scotland on the) weekend to focus on us.
"This week will be different to our previous games with England because we'll concentrate on us rather than in previous times concentrating on so much of what England do."
Yet White remained wary of Jones's ways, particularly after he was recently singled out for praise by the former Wallabies coach.
"It's nice for him to give us some praise but Eddie's the king of mind games, so I'm not reading too much into what he says," White said.
"He's the type of guy you'd love to sit down and talk rugby with and hopefully one day we get that chance."
The Wallabies have drafted tighthead prop Ollie Hoskins into camp to cover the likely absence of Taniela Tupou.
The Perth product has played for London Irish since 2016 and could earn a shock Test debut if Tupou is unable to pass his head injury assessment protocols, after suffering a concussion against Scotland.
White said the chance to knock off England for the first time since 2015 before a Twickenham full house had excited, not daunted, the side after the disappointing result against Scotland that included a raft of missed opportunities.
"Winning at home is good, but winning away from home - that's memories for life," White said.
"That's the way we're attacking it. We've got a great opportunity to do something that not many Australian teams have done.
"Some guys have never played here, some it's been a long time since they've played here so what an opportunity. We're looking forward to ripping in.
"It's different over here. They're a different beast here. I played in the prem and watched them play in the Six Nations ... Twickenham is a pretty special place to play. It's a pretty amazing stadium.
"England are a side we're desperate to beat and they'll always be big brother ... it's been a long time since we got a result here, so why not now?"