Vickery - knows it won't be easy. (Getty Images)

By Frank Malley, PA Chief Sports Writer, Brisbane

Phil Vickery has insisted England need to fight fire with fire when they clash with Wales in their World Cup quarter-final showdown.

The Gloucester prop, who captained England last weekend against Uruguay, will form a formidable front-row partnership with hooker Steve Thompson and Jason Leonard, who equals the world record for Test appearances of 111, currently held by Frenchman Philippe Sella.

And Vickery maintains that is where the match could be won and lost.

"Games with Wales always have a special edge but these games are not about running in the threequarters," says Vickery. "They are about dominating in the scrum and line-out."

Vickery made his England debut against Wales and has never experienced defeat against the Welshmen.

But he is guarded after witnessing what Steve Hansen's side achieved against New Zealand last weekend in their pool clash.

The Welsh produced their most impressive performance for years in scoring four tries against the All Blacks, even though they eventually fell 53-37.

Vickery watched much of that match before and during the Press conference after England had demolished Uruguay - and he admits he received something of a shock.

"It was good to see the Welsh playing that sort of exciting rugby," said Vickery. "But then I thought 'if they play like that and we don't perform, we're going to have big problems."'

There's no doubt that rejuvenated display has acted as a wake-up call to an England side which has so far come nowhere near the peak reached in summer triumphs against Australia and New Zealand.

Vickery admits that training has been stepped up a gear this past week.

"There's always a fear factor and it doesn't get greater than this weekend because we know if we lose we are on our way home," said Vickery.

"The start is so important in these games. We saw that when Samoa got off to a great start against us, it's difficult to claw it back. We'll be looking to start much quicker ourselves this weekend.

"Games are won by the simple things such as who makes the most mistakes, who misses a crucial tackle, that sort of thing. Things haven't gone that smoothly for us so far and it's important we cut out the errors in our game."

Despite the high stakes in Sunday's encounter, however, Vickery insisted it was encouraging to see a Welsh side at last playing with confidence and style.

"It is good to see the young lads coming through to push things on in Wales," said Vickery. "It's been a long time since they've had so much talent breaking through at the same time and it can only be good for the game."

Iain Balshaw has withdrawn from the England bench due to a sore knee.

The Bath back, who scored two tries in last week's 111-13 win over Uruguay, will be replaced by Perpignan wing Dan Luger.

The 24-year-old's recent career has been blighted by injury setbacks, with him making just three England starts in the past two years.

Luger, though, is a quality deputy, with more than 30 caps and 20 Test tries under his belt.

"Losing him is a big disappointment. He played wonderfully well against Uruguay, but Dan Luger is an outstanding player to come in," said Clive Woodward.