The touring Wallabies were waiting expectantly for cot-side bulletins from Sydney last night to discover if their captain George Gregan, who has flown home to attend the birth of his second child, will be available to face England at Twickenham this weekend.
Gregan's wife Erica was due to have the couple's baby induced overnight, allowing the Wallaby skipper to jump on a plane back to London and rejoin his team-mates tomorrow in time for Saturday's Test against a home side seeking a record third successive win over Australia.
"If there are some sort of complications it might make it difficult for George to play but we fully support his decision and it's got the 100% endorsement of the team," said the coach Eddie Jones, who has been forced to draw up contingency plans involving the reserve half-backs Chris Whitaker and Matt Giteau.
"Becoming a father doesn't happen too many times in your life and he's a pretty resilient character. If he wasn't a total professional it would be very difficult for him to tackle what he's going to do. There are few players in the world with such a professional approach to the way they play the game."
If all goes well and Gregan returns raring to go, it will certainly encourage the England cricket captain Nasser Hussain, who is juggling his Ashes commitments with the imminent birth of his own second child in Perth. It must be hoped both men enjoy better luck than the Wallaby prop Bill Young, who flew home from Buenos Aires last week only to miss the birth of his son by an hour.
With or without Gregan, Australia know a tougher week lies ahead than was the case for their cricketing counterparts in Brisbane last week. Jones laconically brushed aside any comparisons - "It would only help if we were playing cricket at Twickenham" - and took his players training at Wellington army barracks in central London after a clear-the-air squad meeting in the wake of their bruising defeat by Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
The players were split into small groups to discuss improvements to their preparation and performance and Jones is looking to reap the benefits this week. "A meeting like that gives you a mental flush-out. We take responsibility for our performance and it wasn't good enough against Ireland, although we weren't playing a bunch of mugs."
The Wallaby injury bulletins have been equally depressing: Owen Finegan needs shoulder surgery and Stephen Larkham is suffering from a strained hamstring. But there was good news, too. The hooker Jeremy Paul, back-row David Lyons and utility back Mat Rogers are all improving, even if the former league international Rogers is rated only "an outside chance" to face England.
Jones, though, claims it is increasingly hard to win Test matches overseas, not least because of the attitude of referees. "Seventy-seven per cent of the leading teams are winning their home games and there is a 15% differential in terms of penalties for home teams. You've just got to play that extra bit better away from home and that's what we're going to do this week."
England, meanwhile, have delayed their team announcement until this morning. The centre Will Greenwood's injured thigh is the main fitness issue but, if Clive Woodward wants to learn as much as possible from this autumn's series, there will be changes to his starting line-up.
Though Ben Kay is a good bet to start at lock and Andy Gomarsall deserves a chance at scrum-half sooner or later, Woodward is less spoilt for choice in midfield. If the head coach wakes up in a more radical mood, drafting James Simpson-Daniel into the centre to partner Greenwood would make everyone sit up, including the Wallabies.
