England rugby stars take to the beach in Melbourne as George Ford eyes historic series win over Australia

GEORGE FORD says England are desperate to clinch a historic series win against Australia in Melbourne.

But Ford and his Red Rose teammates are also wary that their Wallabies rivals will be pumped-up to stop them inflicting just a fifth defeat in 18 attempts Down Under.

Fly-half Ford, expected to start in Victoria after his super-sub appearance in the battle of Brisbane, will be key to lifting the Cook Cup at the AAMI Park on Saturday.

The 23-year-old said: “Australia will be desperate. They will bring physicality as always, they will want to get one back on us, but we are desperate too.

“They will be disappointed with the first resut. They played some good stuff in the first 20 minutes and will aim to do that for the full 80.

“They’ll bring physicality as always and will want to get one back on us. We have to make sure we’re improving and our training has replicated that.

“It was great to get the series off to a win, but the attention quickly turned to this week. We have another huge challenge and we know we must improve our performance if we want to get a good result.”

England’s star’s used the natural climate of St Kildare beach in Melbourne to go through a coll-down session – to the delight of some in the squad.

But James Haskell, fresh from his barnstorming display in the 39-28 first test win in Brisbane on Saturday, looked more concerned about the chill in the water than facing the Wallabies.

And Ford himself looked far from impressed at the temperature of the water as the team enjoyed their dip in the sea.

Winning against the Wallabies would also help the northern hemisphere wrestle back the stronghold their southern rivals have had on the game.

Ford added: “It would be great for us. All we’re focusing on this game when we’ll face a more determined Australia team after what happened in the first game.

“It’s a great challenge for us at AAMI Park and we’re just focusing on this game.

“We want to get better as a team and still think there are areas we can improve on. We’ll focus on that and see what the feeling is like after this game.”