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When asked if his entire time with England hangs on this week, Lancaster said: “I think that’s fair to say”.

The former Argentina hooker has succeeded, with Australia showing a marked improvement in the set-piece and the maul during the Rugby Championship. The Welsh win means that England have to beat Australia tomorrow evening at Twickenham.

In a major blow to England’s chances of overturning their perilous position in Pool A of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, injury has ruled Billy Vunipola out for the remainder of the competition.

With defensive captain Brad Barritt also failing to impress in only his second appearance back from a long-term injury, Joseph’s potential absence could leave the door open for the likes of Sam Burgess, Owen Farrell or even Henry Slade to stake a claim for a starting berth.

Warren Gatland says Wales will not single out Sam Burgess for special attention in Saturday’s crunch World Cup clash against England.

“But we’re under no illusions about what a tough, tough test this is going to be and we wouldn’t want it any other way”.

The Gloucester number eight suffered a knee injury in England’s 35-11 victory over Fiji.

“I don’t care about the score, I just want to play well and win”, he said, adding that prop Samson Lee and full-back Liam Williams would both get run-outs after slowly coming back from injury.