Head Coach Brian McDermott was pleased with England Men’s response as they produced a dominant performance to beat France in Perth on Saturday.
Just a week on from a World Cup opening defeat to Tonga, England bounced back emphatic fashion, running in 14 tries and keeping France scoreless in a display that underlined the progress being made within the camp.
Despite the margin of victory, McDermott was particularly pleased with the composure his players showed early on, with England forced to remain patient before eventually breaking through:
"I'm really pleased with how we responded to the result. The scoreline wasn't good last week but I thought we played really well.
"I think the players deserve a ton of credit there because France got beat by a big scoreline last week as well, so we knew their changing room would have been determined.
"They came off the blocks, and they had a real determination about them. I thought we played a little bit jittery again but remained patient and composed."
England did not open the scoring until midway through the first half, but McDermott felt his side’s defensive effort laid the foundations for what followed:
"For us to not score a point until the 20th minute or something like that; it showed a lot of patience from us.
"Again, our intent, our defensive intent - I thought was great from the start."
As England found their rhythm, their attacking quality came to the fore with a burst of tries before the break helping them take control of the contest. For McDermott, it was another sign of a side growing in confidence and understanding with every week spent together:
"We're building something here. There was a little bit of that on show today and certainly the tries we scored just before half-time are what we've been chasing.
"We can see how good that's going to be. I think it's really positive that if this group's together for a process or a long build-up to a tournament, then we could achieve some special things.
"But over a short space of time, it's been remarkable really. The players have really bought into everything that they're being asked to do, and the staff have worked really hard in preparation too."
While England's expansive attack caught the eye, McDermott was equally pleased with the work done without the ball as his side completed their second group game without conceding a point:
"I thought we found our groove around about 25-30 minutes and then we scored three tries back-to-back.
"Another pleasing factor is that when the game got tough and we weren't allowed to score tries for fun, we also buckled down and defended and worked hard."
The victory gives England a fighting chance of reaching the semi-finals ahead of next Friday's meeting with Papua New Guinea, where another big win will be needed if they are to boost their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
And McDermott felt his side delivered exactly what was required, sticking to the game plan impressively and throughout:
"I think what we've done today is enormous. Given the context, I think it's just enormous. We knew we had to win big.
"Everything today was measured. Everything was inside the game model. Everything is what we'd planned to do, or most of it at least."
England captain George Williams shared his head coach's satisfaction, pointing to the team's defensive display as one of the biggest positives from the afternoon:
"Like Brian said, there were so many positives last week that we could hold on to.
"It's always tough coming into a game when you've got to post a certain amount of points.
"But the most pleasing one was probably the zero. We were always chasing points in terms of the situation we're in, but to get the zero was massive."
Williams also highlighted the belief that has remained within the squad throughout the Rugby League World Cup so far:
"I think we were the best we could be, and we've given ourselves half a chance.
"We've had two great weeks off the field and on the field, so we're just building, and just trying to get better each week.
"I think the belief has never got away. It's a difficult situation, but the belief has never got away.
"Brian keeps saying wherever there's half a chance, we can go at it, and that's what we've done."
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