AUSTRALIA’s 28-point hero Bernard Foley hailed the work of his back row as the Wallabies crushed England 33-13 to knock the hosts out of the Rugby World Cup.

The fly-half put in a show-stopping performance with two tries and a faultless kicking display, but admitted it would not have been possible without Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper and David Pocock.

Assessing the trio’s performance, Foley said: “It's a lot easier than when you don't have them.

“The way they were tireless and the way they put their heads into places not many people want to and the way they were able to retreat and make that cover tackle but also have that second effort to get back on the ball just gives a lot of blokes confidence.

“It allows the people around them to do their jobs and for me it was a lot easier tonight to do my job for the team when they perform like they did.”

“We wanted to put a performance on that would make the Australians back home and those here really proud and I think as a team we did that.

“I think it's definitely up there to come out here and compete against a good England side with everything to play for at Twickenham - the home of rugby - is right up there and it's something we can take a lot of confidence from leading into this week.

“We knew what they had to play for and we knew the pressure was on England.

“If we could come up and start well and they had to chase the game it would be a tough ask for them.

“It was very pleasing the way we started and how we were able to convert that pressure into points and get that lead which was invaluable for us in the end.”

The Waratah must have been the only man in the country able to stay away from the media hype in the wee building up to the crunch match at Twickenham on Saturday.

It certainly didn’t hinder his game as he took his points tally for the Wallabies up to 228 from just 23 appearances.

He said: “No, I didn't read much of the press and I try to stay away from that side of the game.

“It's not why we play the game for me, but we knew the pressure would be on England so to come out and start well pleasing.”

Had he read the press, a number of writers scribbled that Australia could afford to lose the game against England and still qualify with a big win against Wales, but Foley said: “We never talked about losing a game in the pools.

“Our focus was to win every game and build that momentum each week.

“As a squad I think we've come out and shown our intent.”

With both sides now safely through to the knock-out stages, Foley was asked whether this Saturday would be a slightly tamer affair than a week previous.

He quickly dismissed the idea and said: “I wouldn't call it a love-in.

“I don't think any test match is a love-in.

“It's going to be another great game to work out the seedings in the pool and we won't look past Wales next week.

“They're such a quality side and that'll be a toughly-contested game.”