England's recurring flaw '˜can be fixed', insists Bennett

Leading 26-0 after 28 minutes in their final group game against France, England threatened to run riot, but then failed to press home their advantage and had to settle for a 36-6 victory.

It was a similar story to the display against Lebanon a week earlier when they led 22-6 at half-time, but scored just seven points after the break.

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.”

England are now into sudden-death football, with unbeaten Papua New Guinea their quarter-final opponents in Melbourne next 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 to get right. 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 in order to give the rest of his 24-man squad game time before the knockout stages and hinted he is likely to revert to the team that began the tournament against Australia, with Sam Burgess almost certain to return from injury.

“I think I pretty much know the team I want,” said Bennett, who insists he is not yet looking at a potential semi-final against Tonga, shock winners over New Zealand on Saturday.