Jonathan Joseph says England playing 'knock-out rugby'

Jonathan Joseph admits it is do-or-die time for England when they take on Australia at Twickenham on Saturday.

Joseph returns to the starting line-up after missing the 28-25 defeat to Wales with a chest injury.

He starts at outside centre, where he partners No 12 Brad Barritt in England coach Stuart Lancaster's first-choice centre pairing. Joseph is England's most prolific try-scorer in their last eight matches, with five. 

His return sees Sam Burgess dropping to the replacements bench.

England must win to have a realistic chance of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals. Lock Geoff Parling said the match is "the game of our lives" and an early "World Cup final".

If we don't win this, we are out of the competition.

Bath centre Joseph told Sky Sports News HQ: "Geoff's nailed it on the head. If we don't win this, we are out of the competition. We've put everything into this week. It is knock-out rugby.

"So it's a case of going out there and not leaving anything on the pitch. We've got to perform, execute and make good decisions."

Joseph suffered the injury in England's opening victory over Fiji.

"I was really disappointed when I did it. I knew something was wrong," he said. "It was a case of going back and seeing how bad the injury was. And thankfully, not too bad. I just missed a week, which was upsetting, but not a tournament-ender.

"I'm obviously very grateful to be back for what is obviously going to be a massive game for us."