Woodward was considering resting Jonny Wilkinson

England coach Clive Woodward insists he will take a full-strength squad to the southern hemisphere for Tests against Australia and New Zealand in June.

It will be England's first trip Down Under since their infamous 'Tour from Hell' in 1998.

On that occasion, a severely under-strength side were thrashed 76-0 by the Wallabies in Brisbane and suffered two heavy defeats to the All Blacks.

Woodward was thought to be considering resting key players such as Jonny Wilkinson ahead of October's World Cup.

But he believes the Tests in Wellington on 14 June and Melbourne seven days later will provide important World Cup preparation for his Grand-Slam winning side.

"It's a good England team and we're looking forward to playing away from home," Woodward said in Australia, where he is attending a meeting of World Cup managers.

"The World Cup is away from home so to come and play Australia here and play New Zealand is to me brilliant preparation. We're going to come with our strongest possible team."

Whoever's going to win the World Cup has got to beat Australia Clive Woodward

England beat Australia for a third consecutive time at Twickenham last November with a tense 32-31 victory.

But despite his side currently sitting top of the world rankings, Woodward maintains defending champions Australia will start favourites to retain the World Cup.

"To me the best team in the world is always the team that holds the World Cup and that's Australia," he added.

"The only time you can say you're the best team is if you win the World Cup and I still think whoever's going to win the World Cup has got to beat Australia."

Meanwhile, Wales have yet to sign a participation agreement for the World Cup.

Team manager Alan Phillips, in Canberra - where Wales will play two group matches - said he was confident of resolving outstanding issues over the organization of the tournament.