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O'Neill - We all hate England
September 25, 2007
AUSTRALIA Rugby Union boss John O'Neill says all Australian sports fans "hate" England and ordered the Wallabies to "get square" with Brian Ashton's side if they should meet in the World Cup quarter-finals.
If England beats Tonga on Friday, it will face Australia in the last eight and ARU chief executive O'Neill is desperate to settle a few scores.
"It doesn't matter whether it's cricket, rugby union, rugby league - we all hate England," O'Neill said today.
"I would love to see Tonga knock off England but I suspect England will get through and we'll play them in Marseille and that will be a real contest, with Jonny Wilkinson back in particular."
O'Neill has painful memories of Wilkinson after his last-gasp drop goal saw England beat Australia in the 2003 final while Rob Andrew performed similar heroics to down the Wallabies at the quarter-final stage in 1995.
O'Neill added: "We remember back in 1995 they knocked us out of the World Cup with Rob Andrew's field goal.
"They also beat us in extra-time in 2003. It's time to get square and knock them off in Marseille."
O'Neill believes Australia's World Cup campaign is on track after solid wins over Japan, Wales and Fiji.
The Wallabies, who round off their group commitments with a clash against winless Canada on Saturday, will finish at the top of Pool B.
"It's going very well. We're on target," O'Neill said. "We're moving through the pool stages very well.
"Clearly the game against Wales was the critical one to win and we did that very well. The environment in the team is first-rate. All the signs are positive."
But O'Neill warned: "The important thing is to be performing at the pointy end - get through the pool rounds, finish first, take the quarter-final as it comes.
"Then in the semi-final, who knows? We don't want to get ahead of ourselves but the momentum is building very well."
AAP