England have survived a rude shock in their 32-22 victory over Papua New Guinea in the opening World Cup game at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
England have survived a rude shock in their 32-22 victory over Papua New Guinea in the opening World Cup game at Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Tony Smith’s men looked headed towards defeat after trailing the Kumuls 16-12 at the break before rallying with four tries to one in the final 40 minutes to avoid potential embarrassment.
Smith said the performance will help his side as the tournament progresses.
“ We put a bit of pressure on ourselves not having enough composure in the first half. There are some lessons learned.”
Losing PNG coach Adrian Lam said Saturday’s bruising encounter was about getting some respect back from the world of Rugby League.
The Lions will look for a major improvement on tonight's effort if they want to upset threaten Australia at Melbourne's Telstra Dome next Sunday.
The Kumuls head to the Gold Coast to face the Kiwis at Skilled Stadium next Saturday
ENGLAND 32 (L Smith 3 A Gardner 2 M Gleeson tries K Sinfield 4 goals) bt PAPUA NEW GUINEA 22 (P Aiton J Chan R Griffin G Keppa tries J Wilshere 3 goals) at Dairy Farmers Stadium. Referee: S Hayne. Crowd: 10,780.
