Saints star Hartley hoping to make England world's greatest

And the Saints star also wants to ensure he and his team-mates finish the job in Sydney this week by claiming a third-Test win to complete a series whitewash against the Aussies in their own back yard.

England claimed a stunning 23-7 victory in Melbourne last Saturday to back up their impressive first-Test success in Brisbane and move above Australia to second in the world rankings, just a place behind New Zealand.

The Red Rose had never won a series in Australia before, meaning Hartley and Co were history makers.

And the hooker, who scored England’s opening try in Melbourne, is now targeting another triumph.

“We’ve still got one more game this week,” Hartley said.

“We know Australia are a proud, proud team so we expect a big game this week.

“We enjoyed this little bit of history, but the message is that we go again this week and finish the tour proud.”

And Hartley harbours high hopes for the more distant future.

“We’re a team that want to improve and contend to be the best in the world,” he said.

“Australia were No.2 before the weekend and we want to finish off the job this week.”

England conceded four tries in the first Test, but they tightened up and produced an heroic display to restrict Australia to just one try in Melbourne.

“The key work-on from the first Test was defence,” said Hartley, who has won all eight games since becoming England captain earlier this year.

“Australia are one of the best sides in the world with ball in hand and they scored four tries in the first Test, which hurt our pride.

“We wanted to put bodies on the line and we managed to get some good shots in to keep the score down.”