The best way to beat Australia is to wipe the smile off their faces

England must turn the game into a battle and not allow the Wallabies to showcase their skills

If England do not win this quarter-final, it should be counted as one of their worst losses to Australia – possibly even more humbling than the 76-0 defeat in Brisbane 21 years ago on what became known as the “Tour of Hell”. That is because nobody, not even Australia’s back-room staff, knows what their best team is. When you are in that situation, it is very tough to win a World Cup.

Australia have a hugely talented group of players and they are relatively well coached, although perhaps not the best-coached team in the world. At least they always seem to understand the style of play they are going to adopt in a game – if not who they should pick.

Their problem is that they have not had continuity of selection over the past 18 months. We saw their inconsistency in the summer when they beat New Zealand before getting hammered by the All Blacks at Eden Park a week later.

They have had lots of injuries and things going on off the field, such as the Israel Folau saga – but they are always very dangerous against England. They seem to find a way to play better than they do against other sides. I love the fact that Aussies speak their mind. They are gobby. I should know about that. They have always had wonderful athletes.

Historically, the scrum has let them down, but Australia are good at dancing around their problems and intelligently negating their own weaknesses. To win this game, Australia will have to shock England around the field. Kurtley

Beale is a danger from full-back. He has the capacity to do something out of the ordinary. Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete are the same. Those are three important ball-carriers to complement 19-year-old outside centre Jordan Petaia. Then again, England have arguably the most destructive midfield player in the world at the minute in Manu Tuilagi.

England should stop Australia. What concerns me a bit now that George Ford has been benched is their creativity – or lack of it. When Owen Farrell plays, he puts the ball in behind the opposition with diagonal kicks. If it works, you will see the England wings, particularly Jonny May, latching on to those. It may turn out to be the main weapon against Australia.

I can see the kicking trends continuing the same way they have in the pool stages, with England putting boot to ball a great deal and Australia running it through the hands. England do not play a lot of rugby in their own half and will not start to with Farrell at fly-half. I hope they do attempt to shock Australia but I cannot see it. They will likely aim to overpower them with waves of carriers.

I look at the individual matchups and Will Genia is an excellent

Australian back Matt Toomua played with a number of England stars at Leicester and jokingly summed them up at his side’s team announcement:

Manu Tuilagi

“A terrible snooker player”

George Ford “Never pays for a beer”

Ben Youngs

“Isn’t even the best rugby player in his family, let alone the country”

Jonny May

“The chicken, he’s very weird”

Dan Cole

“Doesn’t have a personality” scrum-half but does not suit the way Australia should play. You want to be getting the ball into the first receiver as quickly as possible. Nic White is far better than Genia at that.

Over the past two years, England have been good at being in front. However, they have not always found a way back into games once they have been knocked back. That has to be a worry for them – England’s apparent inability to raise their game if they go 10 points down in the second half.

I would have thought that Australia would have opted for a super high-tempo style. They do not want to go toe-to-toe because I think England will beat them up with their power game. Having said that, the key will be David Pocock and Michael Hooper. If they get over the ball, as they did in 2015 at Twickenham, I think the Wallabies will be in the semi-finals.

To be fair, I always got on really well with Aussies. It was only the British and Irish Lions thing in 2001, which was borne out in the press anyway, that would have made anyone think otherwise. I have no issue with Justin Harrison at all. I enjoy the company of Rod Kafer, a very intelligent rugby man.

A lot of Australian backs, and indeed many forwards, seem to have the ability to be very good on- and off-field coaches. They are good communicators and love that battle of wits. When I played with them, I got them. I felt I understood and appreciated how they approached the game. They use the scrum as a way to restart the match rather than to achieve dominance and force penalties. They see the line-out as a way to move people in and out and around, to shape angles and manipulate defences.

The best way to beat Australia is to wipe the smile off their faces. They enjoy the game, and you have to stop them doing it by swarming over them and ensuring that every player wins their aspect of the game. You have to relish the physical side more than they do.

At scrums, line-outs and restarts, you apply pressure to them. If they start enjoying themselves and their flamboyance comes through, it could be a really difficult day.