Sunday 6 November 2016 13:16, UK
England can win the forward battle with Australia but will need to cut down on their errors to give themselves a chance of winning next Sunday's crunch Four Nations clash, according to Scotland captain Danny Brough.
The Bravehearts threatened to pull off a major upset after posting early tries through centre Kane Linnett and winger Matty Russell to lead 8-0 and Brough revealed afterwards it was a deliberate ploy to attack England's right-sided defence.
"We got them a few times and I think other teams will have a look at that depending on the personnel playing," Brough said.
"They probably underestimated us. The smaller nation has never won a game in the comp and they might have taken their foot off the gas in training but they're a quality team and you can't write them off. They scored 38 points.
"I think England are actually a bit more physical than Australia, who play very smart and basic and don't make many errors, whereas I think England made far too many errors to be a team to beat Australia next week."
It took England 27 minutes to breach the Scotland defence and they led only 12-8 at half-time. Despite going on to concede seven tries, Brough was delighted with his side's improvement from their opening 54-12 loss to the Kangaroos.
"When we were 8-0 up, I was fuming with myself to be honest because I missed the two kicks," said the Huddersfield stand-off.
"But it was a nice feeling. I felt we were creating good opportunities. We had a lack of discipline, letting them out with yardage too quick. But overall I was pleased.
"I thought the lads rose to the occasion and really had a dig. It was a big improvement on last week so there's a lot of positives to take out of it."
Scotland conceded two of their five second-half tries while Brough was in the sin-bin for lying on in the tackle and he insists the yellow card was harsh.
"There was the same scenario in the first half when I got held down by Jonny Lomax and I didn't even get a penalty," Brough said.
"I did the same thing and I got sin-binned. There are different rules for different people by the look of that."
Scotland now turn their attention to their final match against holders New Zealand in Workington on Friday night.
A Kiwis victory by a 30-point margin or more would add to the size of England's task against the Kangaroos in London two days later but Brough says his side will once again revel in the role of underdogs.
"New Zealand are a quality side," he said. "They might rest a few, hopefully they do.
"But we're looking forward to it. We're underdogs and nobody expects us to do anything.
"We just like being together, having a few bevvies and going out and playing."
