Tom Wood warns against England complacency as Australia seek revenge for summer whitewash

Flanker Tom Wood has stressed the need for England to avoid complacency following their latest success against Argentina on Saturday (26 November). The hosts looked set to face a real uphill battle for 75 minutes at Twickenham after Elliot Daly was sent off for taking out Leonardo Senatore in the air, but a penalty try and a second-half Jonny May effort combined with 17 points from the boot of Owen Farrell sealed a remarkable 27-14 win that many will feel represents the best of Eddie Jones' impressive tenure to date.

Having now clocked up 13 consecutive victories, 12 of which have come under Jones in 2016, the focus now shifts to next weekend's visit of Australia. England's remarkably resilient win coupled with the Wallabies blowing their chance to end a 32-year autumn Grand Slam drought in a 27-24 loss to Ireland will leave most fans confident of another victory that would equal the record 14-game winning sequence set by Sir Clive Woodward's dominant crop back in 2003.

Jones has sought to play down the significance of his side ending a calendar year unbeaten for the first time since 1992, while Wood is eager to ensure that England remain focussed and do not rest on their laurels.

"I think the biggest danger for us at the minute is us," he told reporters after that eventful defeat of Argentina. "We've got to be really careful not to let any sort of complacency creep into our game. Whenever you get on a good run like we are and you have a good win under your belt with 14 men for large parts, you can start to think that it's going to come easy and it never does.

"The second you do that, you are in trouble. We're really good in camp about just keeping our feet on the ground. We always talk about just improving from week to week and never being satisfied with what we've done. We'll pick holes in what we've done again today. We won't be too happy with ourselves or give ourselves too much of a pat on the back. We'll work on it again and keeping getting better."

England should boast a major psychological edge over Australia following a summer tour down under where they whitewashed their old rivals for the first time in history. Wood, supposedly labelled as "distinctly average" by the straight-taking Jones before his omission from the 2016 Six Nations, remained absent from the squad that sealed successive wins in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. However, he is aware that the opportunity to exact revenge will likely act as a major source of motivation for last year's World Cup finalists.

"Obviously I wasn't part of it, but the 3-0 in the summer will be a big enough incentive for them I'd imagine," added the Northampton Saints captain, recalled to the international fold this autumn following injuries to the likes of James Haskell, Maro Itoje, Sam Jones, Jack Clifford and Mike Williams. "That will be something they want to put right.

"Denying England an unbeaten year will add to it but any Test match at Twickenham is always going to be a big occasion. Every opponent is going to lift their game and be up for it. We've got to just keep playing well and keep being ready for it."