Geoff Parling admits he will be calling on the spirit of the 2013 British & Irish Lions when England face Australia in their do or die World Cup clash on Saturday.
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Anything less than a victory will probably spell the end of England’s quarter-final chances after their dramatic late loss to Wales at Twickenham last Saturday.
Parling featured in all three Tests for the Lions against the Wallabies two years ago, starting the heartbreaking defeat in the second Test and their decisive and comprehensive victory in the third Test in Sydney.
And the way the Lions squad bounced back from the disappointment of Melbourne to seal a historic 2-1 series win is the blueprint for England this weekend according to Parling.
“We know we threw away an opportunity last weekend and we do not want to repeat that. This is the game of our lives,” said the lock.
“It reminds me of a sort of similar feeling we had after the Lions second Test, after that we knew we had wasted a big opportunity, we were gutted and felt like the world had almost ended.
“But then you pick yourself up, you go again and we did a really good job.
“It’s a massive game, probably the biggest game for all of us, we have to bottle up all of the frustrations we had and use it.”
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