By common consent, Al Baxter ought to be sick of the sight of Andrew Sheridan by now. The Australia tight-head prop has twice been subjected to professional humiliation by Sheridan, sent back-pedalling ignominiously at the scrum, and he may be in for more of the same at Twickenham on Saturday. But Baxter should spare a thought for Stuart Turner, the Sale Sharks and England prop. For all the suffering that the Australian has endured at Sheridan's hands, at least he has to scrummage against England's leviathan loose-head only once or twice a year. Turner has to do it every week.

“Training against Sheri is horrible, just horrible,” Turner said, with an agonised grin. “It's not just that he's awkward to scrummage against, but he's also fiercely competitive. So if you manage to have one good scrum against him, he won't be happy and you can be sure that he'll come back at you even harder the next time. He doesn't do half-measures. Scrummaging against Sheri ruins your body, I don't recommend it.”

If that is how he treats his team-mates at Sale, no wonder Sheridan's opponents might quake at the thought of facing him. He forged his reputation as a destructive scrummager on his first start for England, against Australia at Twickenham three years ago, when Baxter was sent to the sin-bin for repeatedly crumpling in the scrum. More punishment was meted out in the World Cup quarter-final last year. Baxter came on as a second-half replacement, utterly unable to stem the English tide powered by Sheridan, who confirmed his status as the world's leading loose-head prop.

Not bad for someone who became a prop only in his early twenties, converting from the second row. Because of his height, 6ft 5in, some wondered whether he might destabilise the front row, which depends for its cohesion on all three players keeping their backs horizontal at the same height. For Sale, Sheridan packs down with Turner, 5ft 11in at tight-head, and either Sébastien Bruno or Neil Briggs at hooker, who are both a couple of inches shorter. Does the difference in height present a problem?

“Not really, because he sets himself lower than you would think for such a big man,” Briggs said. “He's worked hard on that, because he knows that people will try to get underneath him and push him upwards. But he gets pretty low.”

Turner said: “The key is that he's extremely flexible, which is unusual for someone of his size. He's also very strong in the core areas around his trunk, so he can hold himself comfortably at that height. That's important, because Sheri, as the tallest guy, has to come down to the shorter guy's level. But we've never really had any major problems with his height.”

It is almost a cliché these days to mention Sheridan's prowess in the gym. (Sale had to have some 85kg dumbbells custom-made for him last season, while he deadlifts 350kg, 80kg more than most forwards.) But in such a highly technical position, brutish strength is never enough, especially for someone who started scrummaging so late in life. He has worked assiduously on his technique and has forged a strong relationship with Graham Rowntree, the England scrummaging coach. Just on the odd occasion that he is outmanoeuvred, though, he can always muscle his way back into the contest.

“The most important thing about a scrum is the hit, getting a good position against your opponent and hopefully gaining a bit of momentum,” Turner, who has won three caps for England, said. “Sheri does well at that because his athleticism and size make him so quick across the gap [between the front rows], he's on to you straight away. But he's also one of the few people you can think you've got in a weak position after the hit, but he will still be able to wrestle his way back and lift you up, because he's so strong. You can't relax against him ever.”

Clearly, Sheridan has mastered the arcane skills of scrummaging, but what about the dark arts of front-row play, the dirty tricks and the sledging? “He's not really much of a talker, he doesn't need to be,” Briggs said. “He might give his opponent a pat on the head if he's really smashed them.” How Baxter must be dreading that familiar gesture on Saturday.