World Cup: Style secondary as England strive to take Australia on bad trip down memory lane

The rivals clash in a heavyweight Pool A showdown that will either rescue England’s World Cup from oblivion or condemn them to becoming the first host nation to exit the tournament at the group phase.

The Red Rose have prevailed in four of their previous five meetings, including the last two at Twickenham, the most recent of which saw Australia’s forwards pulverised at the scrum.

Morgan memorably plundered one of his two tries in that 26-17 victory by peeling off the back of an advancing set-piece to storm over and the Gloucester No 8 has outlined the intent to carry the fight to the Wallabies up-front once again.

“Absolutely a pack can suffer from past demons at a particular ground,” said Morgan.

“The forwards are such a confrontational part of the game – particularly scrum-time, it’s like an all-eight battle – and when you are on the wrong end of it … they’ll definitely have some doubts in their mind.

“Obviously you want to go in there strong, put a statement down early and allow those demons to grow.

“Our set-piece in particular was good against Wales and I believe Australia will definitely be concerned after reviewing that game.

“Our aggression has got to be calculated, but at the same time you’ve got to clear people out and let them know you are clearing them out. You can’t go in tickling them, you have to go in there with some force.”

Morgan will be restored to the back row when head coach Stuart Lancaster names his team this morning having recovered from the knee injury that forced him to miss the defeat by Wales.

When asked if style is secondary to the outcome on Saturday, Morgan replied: “Yes, absolutely, it’s a World Cup.”