Australia 20 England 21: Thompson confident England now have lift-off for World Cup

Steve Thompson believes England's breakthrough victory over Australia can be the launch-pad towards World Cup success in 15 months' time.

After months of disappointment, frustration and criticism, England provided a glimpse towards a positive future by landing only their third Test victory over the Wallabies on Australian soil.

Thompson, who has just signed a two-year with Leeds Carnegie, has played in all three of those wins Down Under and he is confident Saturday's triumph can become as seminal as the first.

Seven years ago, England underlined their world dominance with back-to-back Test victories in New Zealand and Australia just months away from the 2003 World Cup.

These circumstances were very different, given England went into the game with a record of just eight wins from 22 Tests under Martin Johnson, a worse return than both his predecessors.

But Johnson told his players when they left England that their World Cup build-up started on this tour.

And Thompson said: "This win is massive. It gives us belief, it shows that we can come away and win against some of the big teams.

"You can only go on so long saying 'we should've got that right' or 'we're going to improve here', before you actually get a win.

"We are now going the way we want to go. We've got the win to get us started and now it's about moving on from here."

Jonny Wilkinson returned to haunt Australia by coming off the bench to land the decisive penalty – but the victory was founded on youth with scrum-half Ben Youngs and wing Chris Ashton scoring their maiden Test tries.

Dan Cole produced an inspirational performance despite only being able to see out of one eye, Courtney Lawes proved he is ready for Test rugby and Tom Croft enjoyed his best game in an England jersey.

All five men are under 25 years of age.

Johnson had given Youngs and Lawes their first Test starts in a bid to inject some dynamism and energy into England's performance and he was richly rewarded.

"It's a young team, coming together, there is a group that can show we have the chance of winning big games," said Thompson.

"Youngsy scored a tremendous try and Lawes was everywhere, all over the pitch. They brought that little bit extra and Ben especially showed on the world stage what a top player he is. He's only a young lad and showed such maturity on the field, bossed the other lads around and ran the game. He's a frightening prospect really."

The result changed the complexion of the tour. It was England's first victory over a Tri-Nations power since the 2007 World Cup and only their second away win since Johnson took over in 2008.

There was a scenario in play before kick-off which could have seen Scotland overtake England in the world rankings. It was no wonder they reacted with such vigour.

Scrum coach Graham Rowntree said it was only a matter of time before England produced such a positive performance.

"We learned a lot from the defeat in Perth. The lads were beating themselves up all week and that came out," he said. "Perhaps we shamed ourselves into a good performance."

However confident Thompson is about the future and however well England celebrated in Sydney – and it was about as well as they had played – Johnson's demeanour after the victory said everything about where the team is in its development.

England have produced one-off performances in recent years, most notably in the Twickenham victories over Ireland in 2008 and France in 2009, but the key is consistency.

The previous week's defeat in Perth was so galling to England because they had failed to build on the positive steps taken in the Six Nations against France.

The autumn schedule looks daunting, with New Zealand, Samoa, Australia and South Africa due at Twickenham but England are determined not to repeat that mistake.

"We haven't just won the World Cup, we know that," said Rowntree. "But with the pressure we had and not fulfilling our potential, we needed that win and I thought we played bloody well but we are not getting carried away. We have got to back it up."

England arrived in Napier yesterday with a reduced 28-man for their final tour match against the New Zealand Maori on Wednesday.

Australia: O'Connor, Ioane, Horne, Giteau, Mitchell, Cooper, Genia, Daley, Faingaa, Ma'afu, Mumm, Sharpe, Elsom, Pocock, Brown. Replacements: Ashley-Cooper for Ioane (63), Edmonds for Faingaa (71), Slipper for Ma'afu (53), Chisholm for Mumm (54). Unused: Hodgson, Burgess, Barnes.

England: Foden, Cueto, Tindall, Hape, Ashton, Flood, Youngs, Payne, Thompson, Cole, Lawes, Palmer, Croft, Moody, Easter. Replacements: D Armitage for Tindall (68), Wilkinson for Flood (51), Care for Youngs (67), Chuter for Thompson (71), Wilson for Cole (4). Unused: Shaw, Haskell.

Referee: R Poite (France).

Scorers

Australia – Tries: Giteau 2. Cons: Giteau 2. Pens: Giteau 2.

England – Tries: Youngs, Ashton. Cons: Flood. Pens: Flood 2, Wilkinson.

MATCH FOCUS

Hero: Ben Youngs

The young Leicester scrum-half not only scored his maiden Test try but dictated the game and on this form, Leeds product Danny Care will have a huge task in forcing his way back into Martin Johnson's starting XV.

Villain: Matt Giteau

Australia's play-maker scored all his side's points by crossing for two converted tries and kicking two penalties but crucially missed a

71st-minute penalty from in front of the posts.

Key moment

71st minute: Giteau misses penalty from in front of posts and says: "That's not my proudest moment but these things happen so you've just got to move forward."

Ref watch

Romain Poite: The French official penalised the Wallaby front row for going straight to ground when England's pack increased the pressure after the break.

Verdict

All England rugby union followers will be hoping that this victory does not prove yet another false dawn under Martin Johnson's leadership.

Quote of the day

We are representing England and we didn't do the shirt any justice last week. There was a lot of hurt.

– Ben Youngs on how defeat in the first Test had given England extra incentive in Sydney.

Next game

New Zealand Maori v England, Napier, Wednesday, 8.35am.