If Australia can absorb an inexperienced youngster such as Berrick Barnes in the key position of fly half, why cannot England do the same? In the three years while Jonny Wilkinson was hors de combat, for example, the No 10 jersey has been worn by Charlie Hodgson, Olly Barkley, Andy Goode, Toby Flood and Shane Geraghty before reverting, in extremis against South Africa last month, to Mike Catt.

The merry-go-round is symptomatic of the confused approach to the international game in England, whereas Barnes arrived in France content in his station and knowing how he was expected to play. It helps to have the most-capped player in the world as your scrum half (George Gregan) and a strong midfield individual outside (Stirling Mortlock), but Barnes, 21, has taken to the international game like a duck to water.

“The key to this stuff is mental, getting your head on,” Barnes, who made his first appearance as a replacement against Japan and his first start against Wales, said. “I’m not that intense [as Wilkinson], but I’m not Gits [Matt Giteau, his extrovert colleague] either. I’m not the class clown, that’s for sure.”

Already Barnes, who has been capped three times, is nailing down his claim to succeed Stephen Larkham, who will retire from international rugby when the tournament ends, even if his knee problems have not brought that date forward. Barnes is not the only claimant because two younger players, Kurtley Beale and Quaid Cooper, are showing considerable talent, but he is the one who is here. He may also be on the way to becoming the most notable name to emerge from Kilaroy, the peanut capital of Australia and once the home of the renowned (if not revered) Premier of Queensland, the late Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson. Barnes comes from a mining family and was in his final year at Ipswich Grammar School, in Queensland, when Australia lost the Webb Ellis Cup to England in 2003.

He watched some of those matches with his parents (“mostly the bum games, we couldn’t afford the good ones,” he said, cheerfully) before Wayne Bennett recruited him to play as an 18-year-old in the NRL with Brisbane Broncos.

He did not revert to rugby union until 2006 and even then had to have a shoulder reconstruction before taking his place in the Queensland Reds side coached by Eddie Jones earlier this year. “He’s tough and a good tackler which is why the Broncos were keen to keep him,” Jones said. “He reminds me, in his all-round game, of Elton Flatley and he won’t be at his best for another two or three years because of his lack of rugby.” That he should be compared to Flatley will create echoes for England, given the persistence with which that player kept Australia in the 2003 final with his goalkicking and his ability to move between fly half and inside centre, which Barnes has also done.

“He has the temperament and skills to survive at this level,” John Connolly, the Australia coach, said. “Stirling’s a great talker, but 10 has to make the decisions and get them spot on.”

Barnes is the youngest player in the Australia squad and Larkham, who may yet be available if Australia reach the last four, said: “It’s very comforting to know we have him there. I asked him before the [Wales] game if he needed any help, but he said he was in a pretty good frame of mind.”

Some players psych themselves up for a match by listening to heavy metal music on their iPods; Barnes is into the folksy singer, John Williamson – just another laid-back Aussie.