Tuesday 25 November 2014 10:05, UK
Adam Ashley-Cooper says Australia's trip to Twickenham on Saturday will be a useful trial run for next year's World Cup.
The Wallabies go to London in the wake of back-to-back defeats in France and Ireland, and are facing hosts eager to put one over on a top southern hemisphere side after losing to New Zealand and South Africa this autumn.
The match is also a dress rehearsal for a meeting on the same ground at next October's World Cup, where defeat could mean elimination from a pool also featuring Wales.
It's the last game of our year and it's really important we finish on a good note before we pick up together again prior to a rugby World Cup.
Winger Ashley-Cooper said: "It's a tough pool and you can certainly treat Saturday's match as a warm-up game for that World Cup match.
"The reality is that's seven or eight months away, but we do have England at Twickenham in the World Cup so this gives us a really good understanding of what it's going to be like. I think everyone is really excited by that."
Ashley-Cooper has recent, painful memories of playing at Twickenham, where a controversial Owen Farrell try gave England a 20-13 victory over the Aussies a year ago.
"I do remember that," he said. "I had to have a couple of stitches - that was a hard and physical encounter like they always have been when I've been here. They've always come down to five or seven points and that game was no different.
"It's the last game of our year and it's really important we finish on a good note before we pick up together again prior to a rugby World Cup.
"We always look forward to playing at Twickenham, it brings a lot of excitement, the atmosphere is one of the best in the world so we're looking forward to that. And off the back of two disappointing weeks, we certainly want to respond and we'll be looking to do that."
Watch England v Australia live on Sky Sports 2 on November 29. Coverage begins at 1.30pm.
