By STEVE MASCORD
LAST week Wayne Bennett told us England were on a journey. At halftime against Lebanon, they were motoring along, top down with the wind in their hair.
In the second half, they abruptly turned into a cul-de-sac.
Leading 22-6 at the break, England looked capable of at least matching that score in the second session despite the slippery conditions at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium and the courage of their opponents.
Instead, they only managed to score seven points to the four of the plucky Cedars, made up in part of part-timers the Australians like to call “park footballers”.
Things started to get weird with Robbie Farah’s biting allegation against Jermaine McGillvary in the 45th minute. England only took five minutes to add to their total but then…nothing. Nothing, at least, until a final-minute drop goal from stand-off Gareth Widdop, by then switched to fullback.
Bennett was pretty clear on what he liked in his side’s second pool match – the first half – and what he didn’t – namely, the second.
“The first half was pretty good; I was pretty pleased with our ball control and how we played good field position on them and gave ourselves opportunities,” the coach said.
“I thought we defended pretty well. We didn’t have to do a lot in the first half but I thought we did it pretty well.
“But, yeah, halftime was good…
“The second half, I thought we lost our way with the football. Defensively, we stood up. I was pleased with that but I just thought ‘we’ve got be better than that’.”
The dynamics of a tournament such as this mean everyone has an opinion – including the coaches and players of beaten teams.
France lost 52-6 to Australia on Friday night but still Les Chanticleers coach Aurelian Cologni thought England were a big chance of winning the tournament.
“Honestly, England showed a lot of good things last weekend,” Cologni said. “England showed physically they are ready, they are ready to make hard efforts.
“They pushed the Australian side at the end of the game and we haven’t seen that in a long time. ”
Cologni’s thoughts on England’s second half display against Lebanon are unknown. Perhaps, like Bennett, he still believes they can push the Aussies despite the detour onto a ringroad.
“It’s not good enough,” Bennett concluded. “We’re not a good enough team where we can turn it off and turn it back on.
“We’ve just got to keep it on all the time. We kept it on until halftime and then we lost our way in the second half.
“It reminds me to remind them that we’ve got to play two halves and we’ve got to do it consistently and not let a 22-6 scoreline interfere with our process.”
Alex Walmsley and Tom Burgess were among those who impressed Bennett. He described Widdop’s performance as “mixed – good, bad and ugly”. He explained fullback Jonny Lomax was out with a calf injury and that he had included George Williams for James Roby to give the Wigan youngster a run.
There were also suggestions on the telecast the Sam Burgess might even be available to play France in Perth next Sunday.
Speaking of journeys, that’s a big one: 3933 km.
