England 32 Papua New Guinea 22

IT WAS hard to argue with the verdict of the North Queenslanders in the taxi rank outside Townsville's Dairy Farmers Stadium, even if they may have taken the odd drink of XXXX Gold in forming it.

"If your blokes play like that next week, they'll get belted," one said in reference to England's next World Cup assignment, against Australia in Melbourne on Sunday.

The comment came after England were given the fright of their lives by a Papua New Guinea team inspired by Hull KR veteran Stanley Gene, playing in his third World Cup.

The Kumuls led 16-12 at half-time and were a tight forward-pass decision away from stretching further ahead early in the second half, threatening to condemn Tony Smith's misfiring team to a humiliating opening defeat.

Instead, England were able to pull level when Leeds winger Lee Smith scored the second try of a debut treble that at least provided one positive from a mostly worrying night. For the next 20 minutes, they finally began to tackle with more conviction, control the ball and impose themselves on opponents who contained several part-timers in their ranks.

"We found out a whole lot about ourselves tonight," said Smith, whose take on the game - in public at least - was much more optimistic than those of the queuing locals. "To be able to not play great and still find a way to win and turn things around when things are going against you is a great thing to have."

England's problems began in the 15th minute when, with a simple opening try for Ade Gardner already in the bank, they squandered a glorious chance to pull 12 points clear, James Graham unable to take James Roby's unnecessarily ambitious pass.

The Kumuls had already shown the need to treat them with more respect, as Gene directed a collection of willing young runners superbly and also displayed a delicate left-footed kicking game that has mostly been kept under wraps during his 13 years in England.

The cheerful five-eighth, from a village in the jungle near Goroka - which now has electricity thanks to the recent investment of some of Gene's British earnings - had reinforced to his young teammates before the match that his performances in the 1995 World Cup had changed his life by securing his move to the promised land of east Hull.

Rod Griffin scored the try that brought the wonderfully committed underdogs level in the 20th minute, surging between two static defenders - Graham and Gareth Ellis - and over fullback Paul Wellens.

England seemed to have recovered from that wobble when Smith scored his first from Wellens's floated pass, especially when Kevin Sinfield added his second touchline conversion. But again, any complacency was shattered as the Kumuls responded with two tries in four minutes.

England looked stunned as they left the field for the break, and it would have been hard to see them hitting back to win had referee Shayne Hayne not denied David Moore a try, ruling correctly that the final pass from second-rower James Nightingale had drifted forward.

Instead, Smith's second try brought them level in the 51st minute. They went ahead when replacement Danny McGuire fed the ball out wide and Rob Burrow turned it back inside for Martin Gleeson to score.

Sinfield's third goal gave England a six-point cushion, but it was only in the 70th minute that they established the necessary breathing space with Gardner's second try.

Smith then notched his third try, but even then the Kumuls kept coming. This may have been anything but convincing for England, but it was the perfect contest with which to launch the tournament.

The Observer