But right now all thoughts of sand, surf and and fun have been beached.Today is the big one. "Playing in something like this is just tremendous," says Hamish. "I wouldn't say I was particularly interested in politics but you can't help but get involved when you are dealing with issues at the department. My employers have given me two years off and I am very happy."Angus, 27, is something of a professional student. Having gained a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Queensland, for whom he and his brother played rugby, he got half-way through a valuation degree at Queensland University of Technology before putting his studies on hold to play professionally in Japan shortly before the game officially turned pro.Three years later he has turned up at Hughes Hall, having arranged things independently of Hamish, and still has his valuation degree to finish when he returns to Australia But he has his life ordered "Rugby takes priority for me," he says.

Angus, the elder by 13 months, rattles the scales at 17.5st; Hamish, at 6ft 6in, is half an inch taller and a pound of prime Aussie fillet lighter, although he is still on the large side of huge. Hamish, 26 and a qualified solicitor, who works for the Department of Justice in Queensland, is taking a sabbatical to further his professional education: "Government policy is a big area of my job and this course linked in very well with my work," he said. THE INNES boys are big They are Australian with strong Scottish lineage. They are up at Cambridge University reading social and political sciences and today they will pack down together in the second row to lock the Light Blues' scrummage. At the moment, Woodward looks about as wayward as Steve "Interesting" Davis on a quiet day.. It happened last year, when we completed a four-week stint by drawing with New Zealand, and it's happened again this time It's no coincidence, no accident of circumstance. Ask any southern hemisphere coach about the importance of time spent together and they will give you a one-word answer: crucial.

We're still miles behind the south in terms of structure, but at least I'll have the squad for a full month before the World Cup."If England can go from dire (against Italy) and naive (against Australia) to beating the world champions in the space of three short weeks, the shape of the forthcoming schedule - four weeks together in Australia this summer, September in purdah before the World Cup and a maximum of five weeks in each other's pockets during the tournament proper - suggests they might be capable of anything. The French must also come to Twickenham, so the cards really have fallen face up."The thing about this team," mused the coach on Saturday night, "is that when they are together for a reasonable period of time, they get better week on week. Unlike last season, when their reward for staying the distance with the All Blacks was a perilous trip to Paris, they play their next game, against Scotland, on their own mudheap; by which time, Will Greenwood should be back alongside Jeremy Guscott in midfield and Woodward should be in a position to run Perry, Rees and Luger together for the first time. All coaches wax lyrical about try-scoring potential, but as the Wallabies proved at Twickenham 10 days ago, successful penalties win the points that win the prizes.Yet it is impossible to exaggerate the significance of last Saturday's victory to a promising side in dire need of reassurance. Woodward still needs to think through his options at half-back - on a bad day, Dawson and Mike Catt are more likely to be away with the fairies than away down the touchline - and to conduct some further investigations on the goal-kicking front. Some experiments may have left the coach with a six-inch layer of carbon on his face, but others have significantly advanced the England cause.Of course, one victory over a weary South African side does not bestow World Cup legitimacy on a hit-or-miss contender, although it is reasonable to predict that the Murdoch-financed grind of Super 12 and Tri-Nations will leave the Boks every bit as knackered next autumn as they appeared during this most recent foray north of the equator.