The 18-4 win for the hosts doesn’t reflect how close England were to an opposition they hadn’t beaten in 12 matches.

It all started perfectly for England who took the lead after 5 minutes through Jermaine McGillbery going over after taking on a Gareth Widdop pass.

But, Australia, woke up and before the break hit England with a double try after wave of attacks on England’s defence. First Matt Gillett and then Billy Slater scored to give Australia a 10-4 half time lead.

The second half remained a tight affair, and if England had taken their chances, a chance of a win, the last against Australia in the world cup was in 1995, remained on. But as they pushed forward, Australia caught them on the break with Josh Dugan taking a pass out to go over the line and seal the win.

Even though, England lost Sam Burgess to injury, and will not be available until at least the semi-finals, where England were beaten in the last world cup, they have plenty of positives looking forward to the rest of the tournament.