Skipper Jamie George is adamant his side don't see Saturday's (Sunday morning AEDT) Twickenham fixture as being a mere warm-up for England's showdown the following week against world champs South Africa because he reckons they have too much respect for what Joe Schmidt's side are capable of unleashing.
And with England having been guilty of taking their foot off the gas in some recent internationals and letting potential victories slip away, he is insistent that this time they will be brave and relentless throughout the 80 minutes in their quest for victory.
Australia in training for the Twickenham showdown with England. (AP PHOTO)
Asked about the clear expectation of home fans descending on a stadium which has been rebranded but which will always be just fortress Twickenham to them, George reckoned England could not afford to be sidetracked by the knowledge that Australia have won only one of their last six matches.
"I try to take as much of that context out of it," said the 34-year-old hooker.
"It's a massive rivalry, it's historic. I respect what Australia are doing.
"Joe Schmidt is a fantastic coach and is the perfect person to take Australia on over these next few years.
"Of course, we want to go out and win but the less expectation we have on the game and how it is going to play out and what we are trying to get out of it, the better.
"We have got to focus on being clinical - game plan and executing. If you worry about that expectation too much, you can start sitting back and being fearful of failure rather than going out there and taking teams on.
"We will take Australia on on Saturday - that has been the message all week.
"We want play with courage, be brave, take teams on and never sit back. The challenge is, 'can we do that for 80 minutes?'
"There's a fine line between being relentless and almost reckless - we're very clear about how we want to go about things."
He reckoned he could see improvement in his side last week in the way they persevered against New Zealand, only to slump to an agonising 24-22 defeat after George Ford missed two late shots at goal, a penalty and a drop.
It was their third straight narrow defeat against the All Blacks, following their summer tour to New Zealand, but George insisted: "In New Zealand ... we sat back, waited and tried to see out the game. I don't think we did that on Saturday so we've seen improvements.
"We didn't win, so of course we're looking to get better at certain bits, but I saw huge strides in the team and there's a huge amount to be excited about from the fans' point of view."
