Wynne Gray: Hosts must get mix right to progress

Every English eye is trained on Twickenham and their must-win match on Sunday. Photo / AP

Humour me for one second, especially all you To 'n' Froms whose World Cup survival is wobbling.

With enormous gusto, you support an England team which has not absorbed the instincts they need to win consistently at the highest level. They've got the physical qualities and ideas to get the job done but lack the natural instincts to complete the deal.

When they get their mix right England are terrific and a team to fear.

Scanning England's possible tournament progress after their loss to Wales makes me twitchy.

If the Wallabies can't sit England on their rump and eliminate them from the tournament on Sunday, there is a fair chance they will end up down the All Blacks' side of the draw. That makes me more uneasy.

Bear with me. If England finish runner up in their section, they should meet the Springboks or Scotland in a quarter-final and if they win that, they will move on to a semifinal at Twickenham against the winner of the second quarter-final.

That playoff is the All Blacks' target where they expect to meet France or Ireland. Playing tournament hosts England in a semifinal on their home turf would be a huge inquest for the All Blacks.

When England get their game right and plug all their power into the right grid, they play a style of rugby which troubles the All Blacks and restricts much of their attacking ambition.

That may not be apparent with their record on Stuart Lancaster's watch, standing at one win and six defeats. They belted the All Blacks 38-21 in their initial meeting in 2012 at Twickenham but have not mounted the victory dais since.

Four of those losses have been by eight points or less, with the one blowout the 36-13 loss in Hamilton last year. They were very competitive in the first couple of tests when absenteeism and contract obligations meant they adjusted combinations and lacked some conviction.

There was enough there to point England towards a template of physical persecution, tactical kicking and belligerent defence. The troops in Lancaster's squad understand that style and normally carry out those orders which is why the loss to Wales, from in front, was so out of sync.

The substitutions did not help and a rejigged backline trio of George Ford, Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt looked uncomfortable in their duties.

All that theory is for the future because every English eye is trained on Twickenham and their must-win match on Sunday. England's record of graduating to the quarter-finals and beyond in each of the seven tournaments is under threat.

Their solitary coronation against the Wallabies is a dim memory as England struggle to push out of their pool on Sunday against the nation they dropkicked out of the dramatic extra-time final in 2003.