Ben Youngs has urged England to give Australia a 'reason to quit' when the World Cup rivals collide at Twickenham this evening.

Only victory over the Wallabies will be enough to rescue Stuart Lancaster's men from an inglorious entry in the history books by becoming the first host nation to fail to reach the knockout phase.

Australia are in the more comfortable position of knowing that, should they lose, their final group match against Wales will offer another chance to secure passage out of the group stage.

Youngs believes the Pool A landscape has offered a chink in the Wallabies' armour that can be exploited.

'The fact of the matter is that Australia have potentially got a reason to quit. They can go to Wales and get a result. They can afford to lose a game, we can't,' the veteran scrum-half from Norfolk, whose brother Tom has also kept his place for this evening's must-win clash, said.

'We've got to make sure we give them a reason to quit.

'We've got to make sure we come out for the game and in that first 20 minutes we blow them away.

'We've got to come out with a real intensity and edge to our game, real physicality. Don't match what they bring, we've got to go above that. Above and beyond.

'The resilience in the team will come from the fact that we cannot quit. They can afford to lose one, so in first 20 minutes just give them a reason to fold.'

Jonathan Joseph, who has recovered from a chest injury to resume at outside centre, insists England must rise to the occasion and not become overawed by the do-or-die scenario before them.

'We want to do everyone proud. So many people are behind us so it's a case of not letting them down. We won't leave anything out there,' Joseph said. 'We're definitely going to be positive about it. We don't want to go into our shells.

'We don't want to come back after the game and be thinking, 'What if, why didn't we do that?'. We'll give them everything we've got and hopefully it will come off.'

England have traditionally carried the fight to Australia through their pack and once again they will hope to gain a foothold up-front, as most recently seen 11 months ago when the Wallabies were dispatched 26-17 at Twickenham.

The technique of loosehead prop Joe Marler has been questioned by former Australia coach Bob Dwyer, but his comments have been interpreted as an attempt to influence Saturday's referee Romain Poite

England forwards coach Rowntree has faith in Poite, who is known for his willingness to reward the dominant scrum.

Coaches are not permitted to speak with referees before World Cup matches, but Rowntree has been in frequent contact with Joel Jutge, World Rugby's match official commissioner.

Rowntree said: 'I've had a very positive conversation with Joel. I speak with him quite regularly on the scrum and other things. It was a very positive conversation and I'm happy with what we have to do.

'I have a lot of respect for Poite. French referees in particular have such composure around the set piece.

'Poite likes a scrum and referees most weeks in a league where scrummaging is paramount.'

England: M Brown; A Watson, J Joseph, B Barritt, J May; O Farrell, B Youngs; J Marler, T Youngs, D Cole, J Launchbury, G Parling, T Wood, C Robshaw (capt), B Morgan. Replacements: R Webber, M Vunipola, K Brookes, G Kruis, N Easter, R Wigglesworth, G Ford, S Burgess.

Australia: I Folau, A Ashley-Cooper, T Kuridrani, M Giteau, R Horne, B Foley, W Genia, S Sio, S Moore (capt), S Kepu, K Douglas, R Simmons, S Fardy, M Hooper, D Pocock. Replacements: T Polota-Nau, J Slipper, G Holmes, D Mumm, B McCalman, N Phipps, M Toomua, K Beale.