England prop Dan Cole says 'problem mental not physical'

Dan Cole accepts that England were off the pace during their victory over Fiji on Friday but says the problem was 'mental not physical.'

Despite opening their World Cup campaign with a 35-11 win, sealed by a late fourth try which earned the tournament hosts a bonus point, it was not the most convincing display by England.

They looked vulnerable in defence and conceded a first half try when England crumbled five metres from their own line, enabling Fiji to pounce onto spiralling a kick into the corner for Nemani Nadolo to score.

Prop Cole said: "We've got to be better mentally because we switched off in an area in which we probably can't afford to.

"On the next scrum we pretty much went straight through Fiji, so we put it right. It's not a physical aspect, more of a mental one.

"We have to understand that five metres out is an area Fiji would go for us, and Wales and Australia will now be licking their lips.

"We understand we've got to be better and realise that we can't give opportunities like that to teams. Australia and Wales will look at that and believe they can get a result at our set piece and will go at us hard there.

"There will be work done. It's still a work in progress but we understand it's got to be a quick one.

"At the end there was probably a sense of frustration. We didn't control the game as well as we wanted and kept Fiji in the game throughout. We're pleased to get a bonus-point victory but it wasn't ideal."