The war of words about crossing in midfield had been intense. Clive Woodward said the southern hemisphere sent a runner in front of the ball-carrier in a way that would not be tolerated in the Premiership. Eddie Jones said England were behind the times. He probably does not recognise the club scene of England as the proof of the law-pudding.

The Wallabies did race their runners in front of Stephen Larkham and Elton Flatley. Daniel Herbert, large enough to block the view of many a defender, did run towards the England midfielders. But there was a difference here between the All Black running off the ball and the Wallabies'.

The All Blacks ran much flatter, in the faces of their opponents. Australia lay deeper and ran earlier. The result was that Herbert was conspicuously not going to receive the ball. All the All Blacks might have received a pass. It would have needed a five-metre forward pass to give it to Herbert.

So, the threat of bamboozlement was much reduced. But would Herbert take out any defenders? It's not just a question of colliding with a defender, but of merely impeding his progress towards the ball-carrier behind the dummy runner.

Again Herbert and Co ran so early and into such large holes that he really only offered himself as a blocker of a line of sight. Nothing wrong there. England had more time to adjust and spot the real target.

Paul Honiss, the referee, had very little to do. If England had felt impeded they would surely have done something theatrical. 'Squealing,' the refs call it. This was a day free of squeals and the issue will need a side lying flatter in attack than the Wallabies before it's 'live' again.

There was very little of the looping, the manoeuvre perfected by Andrew Mehrtens of the All Blacks and his centres. The looped player can also offer himself as an obstruction. A little turn of the shoulder by Mark Robinson and a defender has to check. It happens so quickly that only a replay can expose its effectiveness.

There was no need for too much minute examination here. The Wallabies and England settled for flat passes. They still wanted to work their robust wingers into the middle of the park but their intrusion was more visible than the entry of an All Black wing. If the arrival of Jonah Lomu can ever be described as invisible.

In short, it appears that England and Australia decided to play it safe. If there was one feature of yesterday's extravaganza that had any bearing on future encounters, it was that both sides may have saved their more potent moves for a future date.

If they had revealed all here at Twickenham they might have triggered a worldwide debate on the crossing conundrum. And, make no bones about it, every country is working on ploys and moves that will stretch interpretation of th laws to the very limit when the World Cup begins.

The debate is far from settled. All that is certain is that on training fields dummy runners will carry on charging across the ball-carrier. They will continue to deny that they are impeding with the defenders and the defenders will be working hard on throwing their hands in the air and exclaiming 'foul.' Squealing is being perfected. Prepare to see a lot of melodrama at the World Cup. Until then everything is squeaky clean.

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