Old ghosts won't haunt Australia

Borthwick believes the changes to both teams - only six of the 16 forwards who battered each other in Marseilles last year survive - makes this a completely new rugby challenge.

The Saracens lock guided England to victory over the Pacific Islanders last weekend but acknowledges this match is a step up in class.

"What happened in the World Cup is irrelevant because so many players have changed in the teams and both sides are working with new coaches.

"The set pieces will be crucial but Australia have made huge improvements in this area over the last 12 months. They went to South Africa during the Tri-Nations, and won, and also beat New Zealand at home.

"That gives you a clear indication of their strength and this is going to be a very tough and hard-fought game.

"There is a great deal of realism in this England squad. While we made a good start against the Islanders, we want to progress. Australia are a very experienced side and have played 11 Tests together while we have one game [with Martin Johnson] under our belts."

But Borthwick is adamant his young team can make a good impression and he added: "Nobody wants England to win more than the players and I respect Australia greatly and the sporting rivalry we have. It will be about finding an edge on Saturday to make the difference."

Forwards coach John Wells also attempted to dispel the idea that England's superiority in the scrum in last year's World Cup clash would have any bearing on Saturday's game.

Wells said: "This match is a world away from that quarter-final and we don't want to get dragged down with what happened in 2007 or when we won the World Cup in 2003.

"We have to stop talking about that quarter-final because that England team had been together for 10 weeks and played six matches before playing Australia.

"We are two weeks into this series, have played one game and the players are still finding their feet.

"Our record against Southern Hemisphere teams is not the best, but we are now going out with a full-strength side, which hasn't happened on some summer tours.

"We have to front up in these autumn internationals and we know that the Australians have made tremendous improvements to their set-piece play in the last year."

Defence coach Mike Ford expects his back three of Paul Sackey, Ugo Monye and Delon Armitage to be tested with a series of high kicks early on in the match, with outside-half Danny Cipriani also likely to be put under the defensive microscope.

Ford said: "The Australians are a smart team and will come up with a couple of plays we haven't seen yet. The back three will be put under pressure early, but we are confident they can handle whatever is thrown at them.

"It's a game of wits and we are trying to second-guess what their coach, Robbie Deans, is going to do.

"Their outside-half, Matt Giteau, is a magician and, at times, we were caught without a full-back in our last match and a team like Australia would have spotted that and exposed us.

"Danny [Cipriani] wants to be one of the best players in the world and one of the responsibilities is to defend well and he is going to get it right now. That's what he wants to do."