Harlequins No.8 Nick Easter will lead England against the Barbarians on Sunday © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

Reaction: Johnson demands England raise their game

News: Johnson backs Wilkinson to win fitness battle

Preview: England take aim at strong Barbarians

News: Easter to lead England against Barbarians

News: Hape relishing England debut

Matches: England 35 - 26 Barbarians

Players/Officials: Nick Easter | Martin Johnson

Tournaments/Tours: England tour

Teams: Barbarians | England

England's stand-in captain Nick Easter has thrown down the gauntlet to his side ahead of their clash with the Barbarians and next month's tour of Australia and New Zealand.

The Harlequins No.8 will lead his country against the Baa Baas on Sunday in the absence of Steve Borthwick and Lewis Moody, who are both involved in tomorrow's Guinness Premiership final. England then head Down Under to play two Tests against the Wallabies and three midweek matches on their final tour before the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

"This is the last chance to play in an environment like that before the World Cup," said Easter. "There is no tour next year so let's find out what people are made of and how far this team has come. This is an extremely important tour - more so than in the past where they have been end-of-season affairs. This one is vital on the road to the World Cup next year.

"This is a great way to kick off a tour. The Barbarians beat New Zealand in November and they beat us last year, scoring a few tries. They will keep the ball in hand and really test our defence. Our performance on Sunday is the most important thing."

England have enjoyed impressive one-off performances in recent years - notably the home victories over Ireland in 2008, France in 2009 and Wales in February - but without the level of consistency required to win a World Cup.

Manager Martin Johnson said this week that another defeat to the Barbarians would be "survivable" but Easter and his players are acutely aware how important Sunday's game is to build momentum after England's encouraging display against France in Paris three months ago.

"The performance is the most important thing this weekend given where we want to get to," said Easter. "What was disappointing in the Six Nations was that the first game and the last game were our best performances - but we didn't have any consistency there. When you are playing against the Barbarians you can start to go off-script a little bit. Our job is to make sure we don't. That is my job more than anyone else's.

"We've still got to play and we've still got to challenge the opposition - but that's no reason to throw American football passes if a simple two-handed one will do. We have got to back ourselves with the players we have got and utilise our strengths. The watch-phrase is freedom within structure and that is what we have got to implement."

Easter's only previous international captaincy experience came in the corresponding fixture two years ago, when England won a drab encounter before heading off on an ill-fated tour of New Zealand. Easter broke his hand in the match and returned home from the tour after just six days, only to watch England suffer two comprehensive Test defeats on television.

"We won two years ago but I don't think it was a great game," recalled Easter. "I broke my hand and had to come home from the tour after six days. Let's hope we keep the same result but we perform a little bit better and I can stay longer on tour. It was disappointing to have to come home but it was the right decision. I couldn't play against the world's best players with one hand."