Australia v England: Teams
England captain Lewis Moody insists his side are "desperate" to get out and face Australia in Perth on Saturday.
Last Updated: 12/06/10 8:52pm
England captain Lewis Moody insists his side are "desperate" to get out and face Australia in Perth on Saturday.
Despite having only beaten the Wallabies on their own soil twice - including the 2003 World Cup final - Moody believes the current crop of players have the quality to record a third victory.
And after an encouraging, if ultimately losing, performance against France at the end of the RBS Six Nations, Moody wants England to kick on and topple Australia.
"We are trying to build now on what we achieved in the French game. We came a long way in that game and we need to keep with that momentum," said Moody.
"We know the Australians are an incredibly tough side to beat, especially over here. We've only done that twice in history, it's a tough challenge and the boys know that.
"If you don't get enough motivation from that, then you never will.
"The excitement in the camp is huge and now the players are desperate to get out there and give it our all and that's all you can ask. Now it's up to us to perform."
Focus
England have handed a first cap to Bath centre Shontayne Hape for the clash, while Tom Croft, Steve Thompson and Tom Palmer come into the starting XV from the side that narrowly lost out to France.
Australia's preparations for the clash have been hit by the loss of Matt Giteau ahead of the match.
Giteau had been due to start in the centres for the match - with Quade Cooper preferred at fly-half - however a hip injury means Berrick Barnes will now start, while Peter Hynes comes in on the bench.
Australia captain Rocky Elsom said: "You wouldn't say it's ideal but the way we train and practice it's very much a squad focus so guys can slot in and out.
"And Berrick is no slouch, it's not as though we don't have confidence in him."
The Wallabies also have a front-row crisis with coach Robbie Deans forced to name the inexperienced trio of Salesi Ma'afu, Saia Faingaa and Ben Daley - who have just two Test appearances between them.
Australia: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Digby Ioane, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Richard Brown, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom (c), 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Saia Faingaa, 1 Ben Daley.
Replacements: 16 Huia Edmonds, 17 James Slipper, 18 Mark Chisholm, 19 Matt Hodgson, 20 Will Genia, 21 Peter Hynes, 22 Kurtley Beale.
England: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Shontayne Hape, 11 Chris Ashton, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Lewis Moody (c), 6 Tom Croft, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Simon Shaw, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Steve Thompson, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 David Wilson, 18 Courtney Lawes, 19 James Haskell, 20 Ben Youngs, 21 Jonny Wilkinson, 22 Mathew Tait.