As they confront their day of reckoning on Saturday, how are the Wallabies and English players coping with the incredible pressure?
Senior Sport Psychologist at the Australian Institute of Sport, Gavin Freeman, says that the mental preparation for this match will have begun months ago. "For a team to be psychologically prepared, it primarily comes down to situational training. At a certain point a player has reached a peak level of fitness and skill, you then have to work on a series of scenarios to address the 'what ifs?'"
For example, teams will have practised situations such as playing after disrupted sleep, which may arise if some players are not sleeping well this week.
"It is very important to ensure that routines are put in place and observed," Freeman continues. "Jonny Wilkinson is a consummate professional and has a great routine. Watch him every time he kicks, regardless of where he is - in front of the goals or on the sideline, he always goes through the same methodical process. That's why he's so successful.
"Pre-match routines are particularly important - so important that teams often require players to advise them so that they don't get unintentionally disrupted. If a player likes to be left alone before a big match, he should be left alone."
According to Freeman the two teams will not be given too much information this week. "Going into a big match there is a reduction of information given to a team. They may talk certain strategies, but they will generally not start working on new moves or new combinations. This is too disruptive."
This week team management will be on the lookout for "cognitive distortions", which are various types of bizarre and irrational thoughts that can pop into a player's mind and effect his performance.
For instance, a player may be exhibiting 'all-or-nothing thinking', where they see a performance as a total failure if it falls short of being perfect; or 'overgeneralisation', where they see a single negative event as a never-ending pattern of defeat.
In such an important week, distortions like this obviously need to be rapidly addressed. What about reading the newspaper before the big match?
"Coaches generally don't need to tell a player to avoid the media if they are affected by what is written about them," Freeman says. "Most players steer clear of the papers, however on occasion coaches will use comments from opposing teams to fire his players up!"