Australia coach Robbie Deans has predicted "a ripper" of a contest when his Wallabies side meet England at Twickenham on Saturday.

Deans returned to London from the west country after seeing his dirt-trackers defeat Gloucester 36-5 in front of a capacity 16,500 Kingsholm crowd.

Centre Ryan Cross and fly-half Quade Cooper ran the show, scoring a try apiece, while Cooper kicked a further 11 points and there were also touchdowns for wing Drew Mitchell (2) and Cross' midfield partner Tyrone Smith.

On the basis of form, Cross deserves to start against England, but that must be unlikely given he also featured when Australia tackled New Zealand in Tokyo only four days ago.

Deans is due to name his starting line-up for the England Test on Thursday, but he is keeping selection plans a closely-guarded secret.

"We will push on with our Test preparations now," Deans said. "Saturday's game is going to be a ripper."

Deans is likely to look at all options for a game that will see Australia targeting a fourth win in the last five Tests at England's expense.

As for Tuesday night's exercise, Deans added: "We would love to do it again - the blokes really enjoyed it.

"It was great for us to have the opportunity of rugby outside of a Test match.

"Gloucester played with a lot of spirit and asked quite a bit of our guys, but we finished strongly."

Despite fielding several fringe first-team players and only a handful of internationals, Gloucester nevertheless displayed character and commitment by the bucket-load.

Had they shown more composure in attack, then the game could have proved distinctly uncomfortable for a Wallabies outfit that faces another midweek outing against Cardiff Blues in three weeks' time.

"Our guys wanted to make the most of it," said Deans. "A lot of them are only going to play twice on tour.

"When you are going from Test match to Test match, you don't get the opportunity to give guys that development time on the field."

Gloucester captain Jake Boer was hugely disappointed with the margin of defeat, claiming: "We played all the rugby.

"It seems to be the story of our season. We made too many basic errors, and Australia took their opportunities.

"At this level you are not going to get away with making mistakes. They didn't really play in our half, but this game is about winning.

"I just feel frustrated for the guys - rugby can be a cruel game.

"We played some good stuff out there, but we need to start getting some results. All we can do is to keep working."

Gloucester though have now lost seven out of 10 games in all competitions this term, including three at what was once fortress Kingsholm, conceding an aggregate 99 points in home defeats to Australia, Wasps and Northampton.