England forwards coach Graham Rowntree admitted that Australia are looming large in English rugby eyes, as they did for the cricketers only a few weeks ago.
The immediate adversaries were France at Twickenham overnight (NZT) but such has been the renaissance of the Wallabies, topped by their first victory in four years against New Zealand last weekend, that England's management are already plotting how to deal with the threat they pose in their World Cup pool with Wales and Fiji.
There is no margin for error in what is the toughest gathering ever drawn together at the group stage and Rowntree acknowledged Australia will present a formidable challenge, all the more now they have sealed over the scrummaging fault line that has caused them to wilt against the powerful England pack.
"Australia are receiving a lot of attention from us at the moment," he said. "We have certainly got to keep an eye on them. They have had three very impressive wins, beating South Africa, going to Argentina, which is never an easy place to visit and defeating the Pumas, before they put in that performance against the All Blacks.
"We are watching them constantly as a group, because they deserve that attention, as do all our rivals. But that country [Australia] in particular are going places."
