England express their concerns

“We went into the after-match function for the Uruguay game and the score was 28-10 and before we knew what had happened the Welsh were ahead,” said Johnson.

“Coming back from 18 points down against New Zealand was a hell of an achievement. You’d have got some long odds on it. I thought the way they played the game was fantastic.

“The defensive coaches won’t have been too happy but it was a hell of a game. They weren’t just getting stuck in, the skill level was high too.”

“New-look Wales, much more adventurous with the ball in hand these days, are a different proposition now and were a tough nut to crack last season in Cardiff when England took a long time to get into their stride before securing a 26-9 victory.

“The last game was a World Cup warm-up match and this is very different,” said Johnson.

“They’re dangerous. In the eyes of a lot of people they’ve got nothing to lose. We played them in Cardiff in the last Six Nations and they gave us a tough game. We only really got control midway through the second half.

“Although we’ve won the majority of games against them, they’ve got plenty of ability. We respect that and we can take nothing for granted. We have to battle to get to the semi-final.”

One piece of past history that hangs heavily on Jonny Wilkinson is his last experience of a World Cup quarter-final.

The Newcastle Falcons fly-half, who wins his 50^th cap on Sunday, was a replacement in Paris on the day that South African Jannie de Beer’s five drop goals ended England‘s tournament.

“It was a huge wake-up call for me as far as international rugby was concerned and it’s benefited me hugely,” said Wilkinson.

“I’ve been involved in some massive fixtures against Wales and one that sticks in my mind is the Wembley game.

“We’ve played enough against them to know they are a huge threat and their performance against the All Blacks was no surprise to me.

“The fear of defeat is always there with all the teams we play – especially Wales. We know that if we don’t start well and carry it through then the whole year is going to be over for us.”

Wales haven’t beaten England since a conversion from Neil Jenkins gave them a 32-31 victory at Wembley in the final moments of the 1999 Five Nations tournament.

In the last five meetings between the sides it has been one-way traffic, with England running in a total of 23 tries and averaging more than 41 points per game.