England captain Maro Itoje wants his side to gain a psychological edge over Australia and "turn a corner" ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup by beating the tournament hosts in their Nations Championship clash at Twickenham.
Sunday's match is set to be the last time the teams meet before a projected World Cup quarterfinal in Sydney in October next year.
England are also looking to finish a disappointing 2026 that has so far yielded five defeats in eight tests with a strong showing in the second half of the inaugural Nations Championship culminating in a finals weekend at Twickenham on November 27-29.
"We want to win this weekend for this weekend's sake, but we also want to win because we don't want to give the opposition an inch," said Itoje.
"These are the games that get your blood pumping and you realise it's big. In terms of where we want to go and doing well in this competition, we want to respond to the inconsistencies of the Six Nations. We want to show ourselves and show England fans that we've turned a corner. For that reason, this game is huge."
The 32-year-old lock added: "I have full confidence that the public, England fans and our families and friends in the stands are going to see a team that’s fighting for one another, putting their best foot forward, that's aggressive and taking the game to Australia.
"We want to set the tone of how this autumn is going to go and show the public what this team is about."
England rarely need additional motivation when taking on familiar foes Australia in any sport but Itoje's men have been given an extra incentive following their angry reaction to a newspaper report alleging squad unrest during the July tour because of a "toxic environment" created by coach Steve Borthwick's management style.
Jamie George, England's captain for tests against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in July, said this week that "when someone comes at one of our own, we are going to fight to protect them".
Itoje underlined his Saracens teammate's words by insisting: "I can wholeheartedly say that Steve has not lost the faith of us players. We back him 100 per cent.
"We want to play for Steve, we want to represent him in a way that is fitting of the quality of coach he is."
Itoje was rested from the July tour – his first northern hemisphere summer off since 2014 – but has been restored to the second row at the earliest opportunity.
And a refreshed Itoje said he could not wait to take on the Wallabies for what will be his first England appearance since the birth of his first child, Moses.
"I'm ready to go," said the British and Irish Lions skipper. "While it was a good thing having that time to like de-stress and de-load, I've also missed being among it and wearing that shirt."