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Will Genia values Indigenous jersey, victory, over 100th Test

Will Genia says the Wallabies are braced for their final match of 2018 against England to be a highly physical affair.

The Melbourne Rebels halfback will notch up his 100th international appearance on Saturday (0200 Sunday AEDT) but said the only way to make the milestone a truly memorable occasion would be to finish with a victory.

"It'll be huge if I get the opportunity to get picked ... but I think it's more a case of understanding from a team perspective that it's a huge game for us," he said. "But having the privilege of wearing the Indigenous jersey again ... think those two things are more important."

Michael Cheika's men arrived in London on Sunday to begin their preparations for the game in great spirits following their hard-fought 26-7 win over Italy in Padua.

Genia acknowledged facing an England team, that's won the last five meetings with Australia under Eddie Jones, will be a step up in class. However, he said the defensive improvements shown in the last two games against Wales and Italy, where just 15 points have been conceded, had injected the team with huge belief.

"It's always good getting on a flight after a win, makes all the bumps and bruises and what not a little bit easier," he said. "I think also it was pleasing to see we're starting to build some consistency in areas of our game which are really important.

"From a defensive side of things I thought we defended pretty well against Wales. Obviously we didn't come away with the result but then to play against a pretty tough Italian team who put us under pressure for long periods and keep them to that one try ... I thought was a pretty impressive effort."

England, like the Wallabies have endured a tough year, finishing second-last on the Six Nations table and being beaten on a three-match tour of South Africa.

Jones' side were unimpressive in a 12-11 victory over the Springboks three weeks ago and also in victory against Japan last Saturday. However, they were excellent in an unfortunate one-point loss to New Zealand earlier this month and that is the team Genia expects to face.

"I had a brief look at the game against the All Blacks just doing a bit of preview work," he said. "That physicality, it's something that's a huge strength of theirs not just because of the forward pack but also guys Ben Te'o and Manu Tuilagi in the backline.

"Having someone like (Owen) Farrell in the team, they dictate the game really well with their kicking. That's an area they really outplayed us last year, they played conditions really well.

"There'll be areas for us to make sure we focus and negate."