Martin Johnson insists England have banished their disciplinary problems and are ready to show just how far they have advanced in the last 12 months against Australia on Saturday.

England were authors of their own demise against the Wallabies last year, conceding a string of soft penalties which allowed Matt Giteau to boot Australia to a 28-14 victory.

The early days of Johnson's reign were then scarred further as England hit the self-destruct button with 10 players being sin-binned in just four matches.

England began to turn the corner after Johnson brought in leading referee Wayne Barnes to drill some sense into his players.

And Johnson is convinced that, despite being depleted by an injury crisis, England will produce a better and more discipline performance than 12 months ago.

"That improvement is what we are striving for," said Johnson. "I am confident in the players that they can do it. I know that they can play at this level and they have to show that.

"Last season we were winning this game with 20 minutes to go but Matt Giteau kicked seven penalties against us. It was one of those games where it slipped away from us in the last quarter.

"We are more comfortable as a team now. We have worked very, very hard as a team on our discipline.

"We are not going to win games by giving penalties away. Matt Giteau kicked seven penalties last year and we had a 14-point loss."

Most of England's penalties were conceded at the breakdown and that is where Barnes has focused most of his attention.

Australia have recalled veteran flanker George Smith, who has vowed to be a "nuisance" at the breakdown and deny England and Jonny Wilkinson quick ball.

England's openside Lewis Moody is not of the shy and retiring type either - his nickname is Mad Dog - and so it promises to be quite a scrap.

But Johnson is confident England now know just how far to push the boundaries.

"George Smith has got 106 caps so they obviously have a very experienced player there and we've got to try to stop him doing what he does," said Johnson.

"It's about being competitive without going over the limit that's acceptable. It's about getting the balance.

"Our players have got to be competitive at the breakdown area and all over the field without getting on the wrong side of the ref.

"We know we have to be smarter in terms of yellow cards and that's why we have used Wayne Barnes for every training session. He has been working on areas we consider to be 'hot' and where we need to improve.

"I have already spoken with Saturday's ref Bryce Lawrence and we discussed various areas where I sought some clarification."

Moody is one of only a handful of senior players starting in a new-look England team that has been blighted by injuries to a third of the initial squad.

Ironically, Moody and Wilkinson both return from injury-enforced absences along with fellow 2003 World Cup-winner Steve Thompson and their influence will be crucial against the Wallabies.

"It is good to have experienced guys like Jonny among the young guys," said Johnson.

"His performances have been of the highest quality and tremendously consistent for England over the years, and that's what makes him a world-class player.

"Experienced players like Lewis Moody, Steve Thompson and Steve Borthwick bring that consistency of a high level of performance, which is what you want.

"You know they can do it at this level and the players they play with know they can do it at this level, but we're confident in all these guys."

Teams:

England: U Monye (Harlequins); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), D Hipkiss (Leicester), S Geraghty (Northampton), M Banahan (Bath); J Wilkinson (Toulon), D Care (Harlequins); T Payne (Wasps), S Thompson (Brive), D Wilson (Bath), L Deacon (Leicester), S Borthwick (Saracens, capt), T Croft (Leicester), L Moody (Leicester), J Crane (Leicester).

Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), D Bell (Bath), C Lawes (Northampton), J Haskell (Stade Francais), P Hodgson (London Irish), A Goode (Brive), A Erinle (Biarritz).

Australia: A Ashley-Cooper (Brumbies); P Hynes, D Ioane, Q Cooper (all Queensland Reds), D Mitchell (New South Wales Waratahs); M Giteau (Brumbies), W Genia (Queensland Reds); B Robinson (New South Wales Waratahs), S Moore, B Alexander (both Brumbies), J Horwill (Queensland Reds), M Chisholm, R Elsom (capt), G Smith (all Brumbies), W Palu (New South Wales Waratahs).

Replacements: T Polota-Nau (New South Wales Waratahs), M Dunning (Western Force), D Mumm (New South Wales Waratahs), D Pocock (Western Force), L Burgess (New South Wales Waratahs), R Cross, J O'Connor (both Western Force).

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand).

Assistant referees: Nigel Owens and Tim Hayes (both Wales).