LONDON: Matt Giteau has every reason to hate England, especially when he runs into them at a World Cup. But even after 2003 heartbreak and a 2007 debacle, Giteau says he goes into the biggest match between the sides in almost a decade with "no real baggage".
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Giteau has lost six of his 10 matches against the old enemy throughout his 12-year Test career. He sat on the bench as Jonny Wilkinson, who would become Giteau's future Toulon teammate, drove a dagger through the Wallabies with an extra-time field goal to win the 2003 World Cup.
He was front and centre as England's scrum strangled Australia to knock the Wallabies out of the 2007 tournament in the quarter finals. So you'd think Giteau would be licking his lips at the chance to launch a deadly torpedo into England's home World Cup campaign in his 98th Test and just days after his 33rd birthday.
But Giteau says his only motivation is making sure he doesn't finish his last World Cup wondering "what if".
"For me, everything is pretty fresh, pretty new. There's no real baggage because [Test rugby] hasn't been consistent for me," Giteau said. "While those results weren't great [in 2003 and 2007], they're not something that I think about leading into this game. If you look at personnel ... the turnover has been huge. There's no baggage.
"Even if it was last year it wouldn't matter - new year, new preparation, new challenge. The better prepared I am the more confident I am going into the game. You can't really hold anything back because the tournament is over so quick, you don't want to be thinking what if?"
The stage is set for the Wallabies and England to renew old rivalries on the grand stage at Twickenham on Saturday (Sunday morning AEST). Giteau is the only survivor of the 2003 final, which saw Wilkinson nail a drop goal at ANZ Stadium to lift England to glory.
The Wallabies have only five players - Giteau, Greg Holmes, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Stephen Moore and Drew Mitchell - who were part of the 2007 exit.
The Australian players and coach Michael Cheika have been careful to avoid throwing verbal jabs at England this week. Their mantra has been "internal focus", dodging questions about England's precarious position and the prospect that the Wallabies could knock the hosts out.
"While I know it's a big thing in the media where you talk about the history or you like to talk the story up, for us it's a new challenge and you see it like that," Giteau said.
"The biggest thing [World Cup experience has taught me] is to bring exactly what you've got. You don't have long. Especially these games, they go so quick. Big games in particular. The game is over so quick that you need to impose yourself and bring what you've got as quickly as possible."
Giteau's Test career has been prolonged by a three-and-a-half-year absence from the Wallabies because he moved to France.
The ARU changed its eligibility rules for Wallabies selection earlier this year, opening the door for Giteau to make a comeback.
The last time Giteau watched the Wallabies play at Twickenham, he was in the stands enjoying a few beers with Drew Mitchell.
Giteau and Mitchell are now World Cup teammates, but: "I'm more serious than him on game day, he does stupid things, trying to do the splits."
The last time they both played at Twickenham was in the Heineken Cup final in May when they played influential roles in lifting Toulon to a tense triumph over Lyon.
"When you turn up to do the captain's run [at Twickenham], you get a sense of confidence ... it's why you play," Giteau said.
"You miss those big environments, the big occasions.
"I think I get [the chills] more so now, because it hasn't been a consistent feeling for a long time. It's almost like I've restarted all over again.
"Which is a good thing because I suppose I don't take it for granted. I'm very grateful to get the opportunity and to play against the host nation in a World Cup - it's very special."
England are feeling the heat after a shock loss to Wales last weekend.
Losing to the Wallabies would be a disaster and an embarrassing way for the hosts to be bundled out of their own tournament.
But Giteau insists England has "left no stone unturned" in their quest to get the campaign back on track.
And the thing that helps him sleep at night when he thinks about losing the 2003 final when he was a Test novice?
"I think knowing that [Wilkinson's drop goal] wasn't a fluke ... that does somewhat ease it," Giteau said.
"You're so close to winning a World Cup, and I think I took that for granted thinking, 'oh next World Cup we'll win it'.
"The heartache of losing that game still burns a little bit now, you'd love to win a World Cup.
"But [having played with Wilkinson at Toulon], knowing it's not a fluke and how hard he trained, that eases it a bit."
