England have not lost since July 2019, but head coach Simon Middleton says the fear of breaking that streak is "huge" as they prepare for Sunday's World Cup quarter-final against Australia.

Middleton says the fear of losing is "a massive driver in everything".

"It could be game one or game 29 of a run - the value is the same in terms of win or lose," he added.

"We can't guarantee anything in this tournament apart from the fact that we will be as prepared as we can be and we will give everything we've got.

"You can live with losing if you do that but it's not nice living with it."

'More to come' from rampant England

England are bidding for a first World Cup title since 2014 in New Zealand and have been tipped as favourites since the tournament began three weeks ago.

The winner on Sunday will face either Canada or the United States next weekend, with France or New Zealand the most likely opponents in the final.

England v Australia is one of the classic sporting tests but in women's rugby it has a different flavour.

The two sides rarely face each other and, with England professional and Australia amateur, anything but a Red Roses victory would be a huge upset.

England's recent dominance of world rugby is plain in the fact that prop Sarah Bern will earn her 50th cap on Sunday and has only lost three Test matches in her six-year career.

Australia have never beaten England in five attempts, with the most recent defeat a 53-10 loss in June 2017.

England have never failed to make the semi-finals at a World Cup; Australia have reached that stage just once before - in 2010.

England scored 28 tries across three games in the pool stage - including 14 in one game against Fiji. Australia scored six.

Ominously, Red Roses lock Abbie Ward says there is "more to come".

"We're in third gear - you've seen glimpses but you've seen moments where we weren't quite accurate enough," she said.

"The group stages is not where we want to peak."

'We can't take an eye off Australia'

There have been moments when the England machine has sputtered, albeit subtly.

Before the Red Roses powered to a record victory, World Cup debutants Fiji's pace of play posed some problems early on.

Middleton thinks Australia will offer a similar challenge. As if the side were not already enough of an unknown for England, opposition head coach Jay Tregonning has brought some fresher faces into his backline.

Scrum-half Layne Morgan will start for only the second time in her career, while Pauline Piliae-Rasabale - who also made her Test debut this year - comes in at full-back.

Middleton has done some manoeuvring of his own as centre Tatyana Heard - who returned to the England squad just before this World Cup - retains her starting place.

That means Helena Rowland moves to full-back, while captain Sarah Hunter will become the most-capped women's and England international with her 138th appearance.

"They play a different brand of game to what we generally face," Middleton warned.

"They like to shift the ball. They've got some great skills. They've got a lot of pace in their side. The speed at which they play is what we've been looking at more than anything."

England are yet to concede a point in the opening 20 minutes of a game at this World Cup. Australia gave tournament hosts New Zealand a scare in that period in their opening game and captain Hunter is taking nothing for granted.

"We're in knockout rugby, we don't get any second chances," she says. "We can't take an eye off Australia."