ENGLAND are on their way to Marseilles to meet Australia in the first World Cup quarter-final next Saturday night - and the Wallabies should be afraid.

Until defeating Tonga 36-20 at Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday night to guarantee their finals spot, the World Cup title holders looked out of sorts in this tournament.

However, the momentum is building at the right time for England, with enough glimpses of excellent play against a highly committed opposition prompting the Wallabies to be edgy about their quarter-final encounter.

Australia are without their key playmaker Stephen Larkham. Even though his understudy Berrick Barnes has handled his elevation well, there are concerns over whether he will be able to match the experience of England's five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson, whose poise on Friday was crucial in his team avoiding the embarrassment of an early departure.

England played the type of game against Tonga which can often worry the Wallabies. The England pack bullied their opponents into submission, using the driving maul to effect, and then Wilkinson used a barrage of kicks to put the back three under pressure.

Whenever Wilkinson kicked high, a swarm of England bodies charged at the Tongans, occasionally leading to a crucial turnover. Other England midfielders kicked well into the corners, while their attack played far wider than in previous matches.

As disconcerting for Australia is that Wilkinson, who missed three kicks at goal, generally does not have two bad goal-shooting performances in a row.

Wilkinson's field goal prowess was on song against Tonga, kicking two to relieve the pressure.

England could not have wished for a better lead-up match before a quarter-final, while Australia have had a low-key game against Canada.

Tonga, trying to achieve their most important international victory since defeating Australia in 1973, were the hardest of opponents.

They first attempted to scare England with the most intimidating of pre-match war dances. The aggression continued early in the match, with Tongan captain and flanker Nili Latu smashing anyone who came near him. England were shaken, enabling Tonga to go to a 10-3 lead after 16 minutes.

But England eventually settled, with a critical moment coming in the 19th minute when Wilkinson hoodwinked Tonga into believing he was taking a penalty shot. Instead Wilkinson noticed there were hardly any Tongan defenders to his right, and quickly drop-punted the ball into the in-goal, where winger Paul Sackey grounded it.

From then on, England eased ahead and, although the gallant Tongans never gave up, threatening regularly during the second half, the better team won.

England coach Brian Ashton later admitted the defending champions would need to step up a level if they were to beat old rivals Australia.

"We know we didn't put in a perfect performance and will have to improve against Australia," Ashton said after the match.

"But two weeks ago, according to a lot of people, we were down and out in this tournament. We are still not playing to our full potential but we are slowly moving along the road to get somewhere near that."

England's form has been patchy at best during this tournament, having been beaten by a record 36-0 against South Africa, and struggling at times in their 44-22 win over Samoa.

Australia, by contrast, have rarely been tested, but Ashton said it was too soon to say how much of a bearing that would have on the quarter-final.

"Until the game kicks off you just don't know. It won't have done us any harm to fight our way out of the position we were in two weeks ago."

Tonga scored the game's first try when centre Sukanaivalu Hufanga scythed his way through several unimpressive midfield tackles.

Wilkinson and Sackey were among the men who missed him, while Olly Barkley was powerless to prevent Hufanga from going over.

"When we conceded the first try, we all knew what the Tongans were capable of," said Martin Corry, continuing to lead England, even though World Cup captain Phil Vickery, after a two-game ban for tripping, was on the bench and available again.

"When they did score we still stuck to our disciplined game plan."

Blindside flanker Corry said Sackey, whose second try saw him sprint the length of the field after he collected a stray Tongan pass, was proving an invaluable asset.

"We were under the cosh and had to weather a storm," he said. "It's very special when you have a finisher who can get an opportunity and take it."

There was also no mistaking how the introduction of former Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell, who scored his first England try, as a second-half replacement bolstered the team.