Bennett seeks quick fix after England fail to shine

There was a touch of deja vu for England coach Wayne Bennett after his side collected their second win of the World Cup without being totally convincing.

Leading 26-0 after 28 minutes in their final group game against France in Perth, England threatened to run riot, but failed to press home their advantage and had to settle for a 36-6 victory. It was a similar story to their display against Lebanon a week earlier, when they led 22-6 at half-time but scored just seven points after the break.

Asked for his reaction, Bennett said: “We won the game. When they were good, they were good. It was the same as last week. The second half wasn’t as good as the first.”

Papua New Guinea are England’s quarter-final opponents in Melbourne on Sunday, and Bennett admits there are few chances left to polish their performances.

Asked if he was concerned, he said: “Not yet. We may not have any more time to get it right but it’s not something that’s going to take a lot of research. It’s going to take a lot of discipline and appreciation of what we did to get the 26 points in the first place. It can be fixed.”

Bennett rotated his squad to give the rest of his 24-man squad game time before the knockout stages, and he hinted he is likely to revert to the team who began the tournament against Australia, with Sam Burgess almost certain to return from injury.

“I pretty much know the team I want,” said Bennett, who insists he is not yet looking ahead to a potential semi-final against Tonga, who were shock winners over New Zealand to top their group. “My concern is us getting through with no injuries before we play Papua New Guinea,” he said.

England captain Sean O’loughlin said: “It was similar to last week, a good first half not backed up in the second half. It was another good result but the performance was still a little bit off.”