DAVID CAMPESE reckons England are in for a hard afternoon when they take on Australia at Twickenham today.

The Wallaby wing, one of the all-time great rugby union players, talked about his career and the state of the modern game at the York Sportsman’s Lunch at York Racecourse.

Campese scored 64 tries in 101 Tests for Australia and was part of a side which achieved a Grand Slam of the four Home Nations in 1984, along with winning the World Cup in 1991.

He was at Knavesmire supporting the Sports Development Foundation, which aims to help young people achieve their full potential by getting them involved in sport.

Campese told The Press: “I think it’s an important charity. It’s very good to be involved with something and know you are contributing to helping people.

“Kids are the future so you have to start somewhere. A lot of countries have forgotten about that and start at the higher end.

“It gives them an opportunity but it’s up to them to take that opportunity.”

The lunch, organised by York-based Sporting Connexions, was a huge success – attended by more than 500 people and raising huge amounts for the city charity.

Campese follows rugby legends Sean Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Davies, England team manager Martin Johnson and South African World Cup-winning skipper Francois Pienaar in appearing at the prestigious event.

And while Campese believes England’s injury concerns ahead of today’s Test means they could be on the end of a thumping, he also admitted to being frustrated at the current state of affairs in rugby union.

“We played the All Blacks in Tokyo last week and didn’t play well. I thought England would be a tough game but then I heard that the England team is a mess so I don’t think you guys have a chance at all,” he added.

“It’s always been very competitive (between the two nations). It’s frustrating because they (Australia) turn up at the end of a long season and they get a million quid to play. It’s not really the right reason to play.

“There’s more quantity of games than quality. The scary thing is that, if you watch rugby like last week in Tokyo, it’s the same as the other Tests, there’s nothing that’s actually new about the game. It’s frustrating for me.”