Peacock - We will improve

Peacock: Confident

We'll improve as the tournament goes on. It's not about being great now, it's about building each week.

Jamie Peacock
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England will need to make a marked improvement when they face Australia in the next Four Nations fixture according to captain Jamie Peacock.

Despite opening their campaign with a 34-12 win over France at the Keepmoat Stadium on Friday night, England will need to improve their game if they are to reach the final on November 14.

But the skipper believes his men are more than capable of rising to the challenge and insists that they will get better as the tournament progresses.

"We need to improve, definitely," said Peacock. "It's our first real hit-out as a proper team together.

"We'll improve as the tournament goes on. It's not about being great now, it's about building each week."

After a first half fright that saw them trailing 12-4 at half- time in Doncaster, England were forced to fight back to prevent the French from claiming their first win over them for more than 27 years.

Resilience

Peacock admitted that France had been the better side in the first half and paid tribute to his side's resilience.

"We started well but dropped off after about 20 minutes," he said. "I thought France played well and probably deserved to be leading going in at half-time.

"They're a good side and we were just that bit off. If you are a bit off at this level, you get punished.

"But I thought we played better in the second half, we were a bit more cohesive.

"It's a sign of a good team that you can come from behind and win like that. We didn't panic because we have belief in ourselves.

"We've only had three training sessions together so it's about building for next week now."

Outstanding

The skipper singled out Leeds team-mate Gareth Ellis, who was named man of the match on his second appearance for England as a Wests Tigers player.

"I thought Gaz was outstanding," said Peacock. "He's been playing for 80 minutes every week in the NRL.

"He's quite some player, one of the best I've played alongside and he's proved it again.

"He's been great all year for Wests Tigers and it was another great performance from. He's just a fantastic player."

England will re-group on Monday to prepare for their meeting with Australia in Wigan on Saturday and Peacock admits the excitement is starting to mount.

"It's exciting playing Australia," he said. "We're looking forward to the next two weeks when we get to play the world number ones and the world champions within two weeks."