England centre Jonathan Joseph has claimed that whoever progresses beyond Pool A at the Rugby World Cup will likely make it all the way to the final.

The group, which contains Australia, Wales, Fiji and England, has been dubbed the 'pool of death'.

Only two teams can make it to the knockout stages of the showpiece tournament, and Joseph admits that England are in for a "tough" test when the competition gets underway next month.

"It's a tough pool and teams have got to perform to the best of their ability right from the start if they want to go through," the Daily Mail quotes him as saying. "That's going to help moving on and I don't see any reason why the two teams who get through can't meet again.

"There are a lot of competitive teams in the tournament but the top two who come through our pool are capable of going all the way to the final. Australia's back-line is probably different to anyone else in the tournament as they have got a nice balance and like to throw the ball around.

"Wales' best players are in the back positions. They are strong in that area as they have got some big boys in that back line and we will have to be focused against them. But our thoughts will only be on that first game against Fiji."

England begin their 2015 World Cup campaign with a Twickenham showdown against Fiji on September 18.