LONDON (AFP) - England manager Martin Johnson believes he is under far more pressure than Luiz Felipe Scolari ever was before the Brazilian was sacked by Chelsea.

Scolari was dismissed by the Premier League football club on Monday after the Blues had dropped down to fourth in the table, seven points behind leaders Manchester United.

The England rugby union team are, if anything, even further adrift of top spot in their sport.

In November they were convincingly beaten by Australia before being thrashed by world champions South Africa and New Zealand.

Last weekend's win over Italy in their Six Nations opener didn't dispel the doubts and England now find themselves sixth in the world rankings - not exactly impressive given there are only 10 leading rugby union countries.

By contrast Wales, their opponents at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on Saturday, have risen to fourth after last year's grand slam winners began the defence of their Six Nations title with a 26-13 win away to Scotland.

In January, when the 60-year-old Scolari's position started to be called into question, he said he did not feel under nearly as much pressure as he had when in charge of the Brazil team that won the 2002 World Cup.

"If I lose my job, I get another job".

However, for Johnson, as was the case for Scolari, nothing can top being in charge of a national side.

"The pressure is self-induced," Johnson said after naming his side at England's hotel on Tuesday.

"As Scolari said: 'The pressure with Chelsea is zero, because I have come from Brazil'," added Johnson, appointed last year with the aim of getting England back to where they were when, as captain, he lifted the 2003 World Cup.

"We are not doing this for a pay cheque. The pressure comes from ourselves more than the outside."

England, though, have received plenty of criticism following the Italy match with Johson's former Test team-mate Lawrence Dallaglio saying: "They are not playing at a level anywhere near what it takes to win top class international rugby matches."

Dallaglio, himself an ex-England captain, is a Chelsea fan and has taken a close interest in Scolari's exit.

"The expectations at Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool are that you win and you play top-four football and you win major trophies," he explained.

"I am not sure what the expectations are with the England rugby team at the moment, because they are a team that is clearly short on confidence."

Former lock Johnson hopes England's underdog status this weekend can work in their favour.

"There was a different pressure last week, because we were expected to win. There has always been a big feeling down in Cardiff they want to beat England.

"When you play down there, with atmosphere, the adrenaline flows - and we have to control that," added Johnson, the only man to captain the British and Irish Lions on two tours.

"Wales are a very confident team, very skilful - they want to play the game at a high tempo. They have confidence and momentum - and we need to stop that.

"We don't have that much expectation and we need to go there and fight."