Shanklin has issued a damning assessment of Wales' prospective World Cup quarter-final opponents England.

"I've played against their players in the Zurich Premiership and they are nothing special," said Cardiff Blues three-quarter Shanklin.

"England are beatable - South Africa showed that. They dominated a lot of Saturday's game and if you can match them physically and cut out basic errors you can beat them."

If Wales trump Italy in Saturday's Group D crunch clash here in Canberra, Steve Hansen's men will face the old enemy in a last eight showdown in Brisbane on November 9.

England have come in for criticism for failing to score more than one try against the South Africans, despite winning 25-6.

England were among the favourites to win the tournament, but were surprised at the strength of the Springboks' resistance.

Shanklin knows all about England, playing for Saracens in the Zurich Premiership for three years until joining Cardiff Blues in the summer.

He stressed: "England are still a great side, they work well as a team, they have a good understanding and they do the basics well.

"They consistently work in units whereas we look good only in patches.

"But if you can match them physically then it's game on."

Shanklin and the rest of the team are geared up for a massive game against Italy.

"There was quite a dull mood in the changing room after we beat Tonga, the boys came off knowing they hadn't played that well," said Shanklin.

"It was only when people realised we had won, making it four on the trot, that the mood changed.

"But we do seem to lose concentration, we scored a try against Tonga then dropped the ball from the kick-off."

Wales will be after revenge against the Italians, following their defeat to the Azzurri in last season's Six Nations.

"That match will be in the back of people's minds, it was a big shock and we will have to use that as motivation going into the game on Saturday.

"There was huge disappointment, we could have put them to bed but we didn't.

"Once we scored some points we let them back in instead of killing them off.

"But Italy are playing well, it's a huge game and we can't be complacent. They have a great pack, very physical. We need to match them and go beyond that."