ENGLAND: Austin Healey is set to be handed the task of downing the all-conquering Wallabies at Twickenham - just four months after becoming Australian public enemy number one.

With Matt Dawson dropped from coach Clive Woodward's squad, Healey seems certain to be named in the scrumhalf berth when the England team to take on the world champions on Saturday is named today.

On the eve of the third and decisive Lions Test in Sydney during the summer, the Leicester player launched a scathing attack on all things Australian, branding the country 'the land of other people's ideas'.

He also memorably labelled lock Justin Harrison "a plank, a plod and an ape", although his comments backfired as the Wallaby second-row turned in a man-of-the-match display as Australia swept to a series win with a 29-23 success in Stadium Australia.

Healey has hardly been less forthright in his opinions since his return to England, and the launch of his tour diary last week reopened the old wounds.

Woodward has come under fire for a series of selection blunders against Ireland at Lansdowne Road, and has admitted to mistakes in the build-up to the game.

And he has not been slow to wield the axe, cutting Wasps duo Phil Greening and Simon Shaw from his squad, plus the injury plagued Dawson and Leicester back-row Martin Corry.

NEW ZEALAND: Christian Cullen insists his omission from New Zealand's tour to Britain, Ireland and Argentina is injury-related, despite the All Blacks management claiming he was dropped due to poor form.

Cullen, a veteran of 52 Tests, said he made himself unavailable for the tour after advice from his doctor after failing a fitness test on his knee last Friday.

However, All Blacks manager Andrew Martin confirmed yesterday Cullen had been considered available for the tour and was not picked simply because he had not been playing well enough.

Meanwhile, Brad Thorn has revealed he withdrew from the tour because he could not commit himself to the union code.

The Canterbury lock has just one season of rugby union under his belt after switching from Australian rugby league giants the Brisbane Broncos, and was a surprise inclusion in the All Blacks squad.

However, Thorn withdrew on Sunday from the 30-man party, with his continued involvement in union still uncertain. He has been linked with a return to league after failing to nail down a starting spot at Canterbury.

FRANCE: Bourgoin's Lionel Nallet and Thibault Privat from Beziers have been added to the squad for Saturday's clash with South Africa at the Stade de France.

The second row duo have been brought in to replace the experienced pair of Fabien Pelous and Olivier Brouzet, who were both forced to pull out with injuries.