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CARDIFF - Wallabies coach John Connolly has warned that likely rugby World Cup quarterfinal opponents England are still a serious threat despite the defending champions' record mauling at the hands of the Springboks.
England were demolished 36-0 in Paris on Friday, a defeat which leaves Brian Ashton's patched-up
side needing to beat Samoa in Nantes next Saturday to be sure of a last eight place.
Should they come through that, they will find the Australians waiting and eager to avenge their defeat in the final to Martin Johnson's Englishmen in the 2003 final.
"They've still got a good performance in them," said Connolly.
"At a World Cup you need everything to run for you. But losing Olly Barkley and Jonny Wilkinson upset the rhythm of things.
"Basically, the Springboks chased and bashed in and once they got the loose ball they had the wingers and halfbacks, who are all fantastic players, take advantage of it.
"They outkicked England and gave them no quarter and they just couldn't get into the game. But England's scrum is good and their line-out looks fine. They have enough ability too."
Connolly's Wallabies virtually wrapped up Pool B with their testing 32-20 win over Wales at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday.
They were ahead 25-3 at the interval on the back of tries from Matt Giteau, skipper Stirling Mortlock and Chris Latham before they took their foot off the gas and allowed Wales back into the match after the interval.
At one stage they were even down to 13 men after winger Drew Mitchell and lock forward Nathan Sharpe were sinbinned.
That disruption allowed Shane Williams to grab his team's second try four minutes from time.
But Connolly believes even the sinbinnings can work in his team's favour in the long term.
"We had to defend and defend today. That will hold us in good stead in the long term," he said.
Connolly - who has carried his nickname of 'Knuckles' earned during his days as a Darwin nightclub bouncer into his no-nonsense attitude to coaching - also believes that Australia's second half lapse could also be due to their prolonged inactivity going into the World Cup whereas many of their northern hemisphere rivals played a series of warm-ups.
"We chose not to have a game for a few months and that's probably why we took our foot off the pedal," said Connolly whose team opened their campaign with a 91-3 win over Japan last weekend.
"We fluffed three or four try-scoring chances today and allowed Wales to come back into it."
Despite the win, Connolly had a few soothing words for Wales who will likely go on to face the Springboks in the quarterfinals.
"Wales have some good players but we are quite a good team so I wouldn't be too hard on them."
- AFP
