Sharing a beer with the legendary Alfie Langer a few nights before the New Zealand game, we were joined by the likes of Nathan Hindmarsh and Cooper Cronk: both overlooked by Sheens for the first match, but clearly allowed off the leash to enjoy their own time in London.

BBC: Closing the gap?

That was the kind of answer I expected from Sheens - and one I'd struggle to disagree with.

BBC: Closing the gap?

Tony Smith, like Sheens, has assembled a squad almost unrecognisable from the one which competed in the World Cup, pinning his hopes in youth to provide that spark of exuberance and energy.

BBC: Closing the gap?

"Not a lot of these guys have toured before, so to come over for a month and move around the country is incredibly exciting for them, " said Aussie coach Tim Sheens.

BBC: Closing the gap?

Nearby, an unidentified man in sober black, painted a quarter-century later and standing against pale, classicizing architecture, epitomizes the more restrained taste of La Serenissima with its miraculously varied textures, transparencies and sheens, within an uncompromising silhouette of inky darkness.

WSJ: More than a Mere Colorist | Veronese | Ringling Museum of Art

Sheens believes that Tony Smith's gamble on youth will pay off, if only because the players he has chosen are so unfamiliar to Australia.

BBC: Closing the gap?

Both Sheens and skipper Darren Lockyer were critical of Australian referee Tony Archer for allowing a slow play-the-ball which reduced the game as a spectacle.

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