It's an area of expertise for the 45-year-old, McKellar turning the Brumbies' rolling maul into a weapon during his time in Canberra.

Such was their success rate, many consider the team among the best proponents of the tactic in world rugby.

Now a full-time member of the Wallabies' coaching staff, McKellar is determined to replicate that success in the international arena.

"We're trying to develop a mindset of having the best maul in the world," McKellar said. "That takes time. There's five groups of players that have come from different franchises, they all do it differently.

"The buy in and the thirst for it from the playing group has certainly been obvious from my end. (We're focused on) that genuine physicality, brutality around what we do, playing with a real hard edge. You're not going to win any game of rugby without it and you certainly won't win a Test match."

The effectiveness of the maul has seen the Brumbies turn to the strategy on a regular basis in recent Super Rugby seasons.

Even when three points were up for grabs, the team typically opted to kick for touch and chase the try.

The Wallabies will adopt a different approach in the upcoming England Test series, with points at a premium in all three matches.

Instead, they will be more selective when deciding to utilise the driving maul, with a shot at goal from a penalty the default option.

For McKellar, that makes it even more important that the forwards are up to the task when called upon.

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"It's about mauling better," he said. "The reality is at Test match rugby, games are often tight, so when the opportunity comes to take points, you generally take the points.

"In Super Rugby, with bonus points over the course of a season, scoring tries is certainly important. We'll find opportunities (to maul) within Test rugby are less, but when we do take them, we've just got to be better.

"There was a growth and a shift in mindset and mauling's one part of it. There's a whole lot to being a good forward pack. That's certainly not the only part of it, but it's an area we have identified that we can certainly make some shifts."

McKellar has enjoyed a smooth transition to the Wallabies' setup, having acted as assistant coach throughout the second half of last year.

That has enabled the coach to hit the ground running and ensured the team has been able to build on many of the foundations laid over the past 12 months.

"It's been pretty seamless," McKellar said. "Off the back of last year's experience having rolled from Super Rugby straight into the international season with the French, this year it's the English.

"Consistency of coaching group, and to a certain extent consistency of selection of the playing group, allows it to be a smooth transition.

"The biggest challenge is parking one language that you use at a Super Rugby club and shifting to the language that we use here."

While they have been in camp on the Sunshine Coast for less than two weeks, the forwards have bought into McKellar's approach.

England have bullied the Australians at the scrum and lineout in recent times and the Australian pack is determined to ensure it does not happen again.

That starts in Perth on Saturday night, before the teams jump across to Brisbane for the second Test and a potential decider at the SCG.

While open-play dominance is important, Brumbies and Wallabies prop James Slipper said it all starts at the set piece.

"Having Dan in the picture, that's his forte isn't it," Slipper said. "That forward work, the rolling maul, the detail around carries and cleans. He's been a great addition to the Wallaby makeup.

"In Test match rugby, the set piece is so important. It's very hard to win a game for your country without a functioning set piece. We've been doing a lot of work on that.

"England back themselves in that area and they historically have been strong in the set piece so we're going to have to be on our game to not only compete with them but try and get over them.

"That's our goal. It's one thing saying it, it's another thing doing it, so we're going to have to make sure we roll up the sleeves and whoever gets given the jersey goes out there and does a job."

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