Lewsey was among the World Cup winners in Australia in 2003

The injured full-back, who damaged his shoulder in the Six Nations opener against Wales, was part of the team that won the title in 2003.

And he told BBC Sport: "I have every confidence we can go on to successfully defend our world crown in France.

"We showed in the autumn and, even more noticeably, against Wales at the weekend, that the potential's there."

England had been criticised for lacking attacking flair during their three November Tests but silenced their critics in the 47-13 win over Wales, in which they scored six tries.

The All Blacks are setting the standard but we're not so far off Josh Lewsey

But the Wasps flyer, who is hopeful of returning to action for the game against Scotland on Saturday 25 February, warned against complacency after that result.

He said: "We need to show that wasn't a one off against Italy this weekend and I'm confident we'll prove that."

England produced their performance of 2005 in November to come within four points of beating New Zealand, a team Lewsey believes is still a notch above the rest.

"The All Blacks are clearly setting the standard at the moment," he added, "but we're not so far off.

"We're not the finished article yet but Robbo (England coach Andy Robinson) and the other coaches are doing a top job to get us there.

"When we won the World Cup in 2003 it was all about the strength in depth of our squad and having players good enough to step up when needed. I believe we have that now."