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To beat the best England motivated by Australian success
LONDON (Reuters) -- England captain Martin Johnson believes no inspirational team talk will be needed ahead of Saturday's international against Australia. The Leicester lock says the sporting dominance Australia has enjoyed in recent months has increased the overwhelming desire of the England players to beat the world champion. "When I give my team talk I will not go on about how many medals Australia have won during the Olympics or how they have dominated women's swimming," said Johnson. "They have done well in the Rugby League World Cup and even beaten Scotland at football but all the motivation the team needs is the fact we have the opportunity to inflict a defeat on the world and Tri-Nations champions.' Johnson says Australia might lack England's freshness after two internationals against France and Scotland, both won. "It is the end of a long tour for Australia but they will be anxious not to lose to us at Twickenham. Both teams will have their best players on the pitch and will play as hard as they can to earn success. "With the (British) Lions tour coming up it would be nice to beat Australia and recreate the atmosphere at Twickenham we enjoyed in 1997 when we played South Africa." Harlequins prop Jason Leonard equals winger Rory Underwood's appearances record for England -- 85 -- on Saturday. "When I started playing rugby as a number eight I aspired to be like international stars such as England's John Scott. But now Jason could become the most-capped English player and other young hopefuls will look up at him," Johnson said. "It is a major advantage having such experience in the pack and hopefully it will give us a boost. "However, I don't think players now take 20 games to establish themselves in an international team and Australia have a knack of discovering players who can make an immediate transition from the Super 12s to the national team."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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