England tour captain Pat Sanderson is optimistic heading out to Australia.
England tour captain Pat Sanderson accepts his young England side face a tough trip to Australia, but Sunday's win over the Barbarians will stand them in good stead.The Worcester back-row forward skippered England for the first time in their 46-19 victory over the Baa-Baas at Twickenham on Sunday.
A first win over the Barbarians since 2002 was achieved without the 11 members of the England squad that played in the Guinness Premiership final between Sale and Leicester on Saturday.
Man-of-the-Match Sanderson knows Andy Robinson's new-look squad will be up against it Down Under, but says the victory on Sunday will give them a good boost ahead of the trip.
"There is still a lot of work to do, but we can take a lot to Australia from that," said Sanderson.
"Right through to the final whistle we were looking to play rugby, and I thought we played some rugby when the opportunity was there, but we also controlled the game when we had to.
"We know it is a very tough prospect going to Australia because it's a very difficult place to win, but that was a good start."
England face Australia in Sydney on June 11 with the second Test in Melbourne just six days later, as Robinson and his new backroom staff look at possibilities for the World Cup.
England's much-changed side ran in six tries against a star-studded Barbarians side and Robinson says it was a good display.
"It was a good performance," said Robinson.
"The thing that impressed us all was the work-rate and attitude the players have shown.
"At the end of a long season, they have trained hard and in the last 30 minutes I was pretty pleased with the way the attack came together."
