The build-up to England's win over Australia was dominated by a report in The Times claiming that senior players had demanded talks with coach Steve Borthwick and senior figures at the RFU.

England had to batten down the hatches after reports of a toxic environment but a record points tally against Australia is just the tonic for any grumbling in the changing room.

The build-up to Sunday’s Nations Championship clash at Allianz Stadium was dominated by a report in The Times claiming that senior players within the England squad had demanded talks with coach Steve Borthwick and senior figures at the RFU. Vice-captain Jamie George questioned the contents of the report, as well as its timing, and England’s response on the pitch was emphatic with a 45-22 win over the Wallabies – the most points they have ever managed against Australia.

For World Cup winner Ben Kay, the idea of a completely harmonious changing room where everyone is satisfied is naïve – highlighting his own experience with an all-conquering England side. However, he feels that any frustrations can be eased by the magnitude of this opening success.

“From my experience, not everyone is always happy in a team environment,” said Kay. "There's a difference between things being catastrophically wrong and someone simply having a bit of a grumble because they'd prefer things to be done differently.

“For example, the most successful team I ever played in was coached by Clive Woodward. He deserves enormous credit for what he achieved and the system he put in place. But if you'd asked every player in that squad whether they thought Clive was doing a good job at any given time, there would have been some who felt he wasn't.

“I think what happens in that situation is that it can actually galvanise the players and bring them together a little bit more. They've all heard about it. Some will have read it, and some might feel they're part of the reason it's appearing in the media. But if you're desperate for your team to be successful and to go away and win a World Cup, you're not going to deliberately sacrifice your team's performance to make a point in the media.

“I think it's also amazing what winning does for you. When you win together, that shared sense of achievement makes you forget the things you were moaning about a few weeks earlier.”

While the England players have been at pains to reject the contents of the report, which came after the country’s worst-ever Guinness Men’s Six Nations campaign, they did acknowledge that there have been some forthright conversations with the coaching staff. The 80 minutes against Australia, during which England ran in seven tries, was an indication of the bond within the team.

And while Kay does not believe that the report was entirely unfounded, he does not feel that there will be a witch hunt to see where leaks are coming from in the changing room.

He added: “I think when you're involved in a sporting environment, it's very difficult to keep everything within the changing-room walls. These rumours don't necessarily start with players putting their hands up, ringing a journalist and saying, "I'm not happy here." It might happen because they speak to an agent or someone back at their club, and that person asks a question.

“They might have a bit of a whinge, it gets passed around, becomes a rumour, and then a journalist picks up on it and starts trying to establish whether there's any truth to it. As I said, when you see something written down in black and white, it looks catastrophic. But it's very rare that everyone in a team is always thinking, "This is the best it's ever been. Everything is great."”