Youngs braced for 'confrontational and confident' Wallabies

England’s Ben Youngs expects to face a “confident” and “confrontational” Australia buoyed by their recent win over New Zealand when the teams meet at Twickenham.

The Wallabies defeated the All Blacks 23-18 last month and have backed that up with victories over Wales and Japan in recent weeks.

England began the November internationals by beating Argentina 21-8 last weekend, although the hosts were not always convincing in overcoming the Pumas.

And Youngs, having seen Michael Cheika’s men show what they can do against the world champions in Brisbane, is wary ahead of Saturday’s showdown.

“I watched the game… I thought they were terrific,” Youngs, speaking on behalf of Land Rover, told Omnisport.

“A well-deserved win. They’re going to turn up full of confidence without a doubt. They are probably very similar to when we went over for our tour [of Australia in 2016], when they hadn’t played together and we were the first game for them.

“We’d just finished the Six Nations and played some games together. It’s really important that we get the momentum going. From an Australian side, I think they’ll always come over and be confrontational and confident about their Autumn series.”

"We’ve got three or four areas where we really think we can target Australia."

Eddie looks ahead to #ENGvAUS: https://t.co/2z0PmyrXV2 pic.twitter.com/k391UVzAwp

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) November 16, 2017

Asked if England’s players raise their level for meetings with the southern hemisphere’s traditional powerhouse teams, Youngs said: “I think it’s always business as usual but you’ve got to understand that they’re coming off the back of the Rugby Championship.

“So they’re [at] Test level of intensity, they’re more familiar with it than we are.

“So what’s vital is when we meet up is we’re straight into that Test environment in terms of that application, training intensity and execution of standards.

“They’ve been doing it for the last six, seven weeks. You can’t afford to miss a day. The mini camps we’ve had are really vital in making sure we can hit the ground running.”

Youngs has been a mainstay for England since Eddie Jones took over as head coach in 2015 and the scrum-half appreciates the impact the Australian has had on a squad that has won the last two Six Nations.

“I think with Eddie, he’s really clear about our objectives and where we want to go,” he said.

“He just wants us to be able to play to our strengths, play this English game and it’s very easy for us all to buy into that.

“We’ve got a huge amount of depth. And what’s helped us also is that clear understanding about what our strengths are and how we use those strengths.

“I think from day one we’ve been really clear about what we want to do as a side and that’s win a World Cup.”

Ben Youngs is a Land Rover ambassador. This year Land Rover celebrates its Testimonial Season of support for grassroots rugby in the UK. #WeDealInReal