Worsley, who wins his 48th cap this weekend, was in Englands starting line-up for the past two failed Paris missions - experiences which underline an acute degree of difficulty he knows awaits the world champions on Sunday.

It is just such a difficult place to go to and win a game, he said.

The only way you are going to win it is by really fronting up and having a physical battle with them.

Normally, every time they play us they seem to come out of the blocks flying. I remember playing there two years ago and they were exceptional in the first half.

We actually fought back but couldnt quite pull it off - and we are under no illusions this is going to be an extremely tough match.

England must pick themselves up after a dismal Calcutta Cup defeat against Scotland two weeks ago, an occasion when they made three times fewer tackles and three times more passes than their opponents - but still lost 18-12.

If you look at the statistics from the Scotland game it should have been a one-sided match, said Worsley.

But rugby is not like that. Scotland defended amazingly well and pulled off a great victory, and we have had to address what we do with the ball and how we use it.

We were pretty happy with the first-half performance (at Murrayfield), but I felt the game slowed down in the second period and became very stop-start - whereas previously it had been quite fluid.

If we win on Sunday weve got a chance of winning the tournament. But lose it, and we are really playing for third place.

I am always optimistic but also well aware of the magnitude of the task ahead. To win out there would be one of the highlights of my career.