Four Nations: Danny Brough fears worst for England in Australia showdown

The Huddersfield Giants stand-off caused the hosts countless problems in the first half of Saturday’s game as the outsiders forged a surprise 8-0 lead after 25 minutes.

Scotland lost 38-12 to Wayne Bennett’s side but were beaten 54-12 by the Kangaroos the week before.

Brough, 33, said: “England actually are a bit more physical.

“But Australia play very smart, very basic and don’t make many errors whereas I thought England made far too many to be a team to beat Australia next week.”

Scotland trailed 12-8 at the interval but lost their way especially after Brough was sin-binned in the 58th minute for holding down Jonny Lomax after the full-back broke.

Brough said: “I thought it was harsh. I had the same scenario in the first half when I got held down by Lomax but I didn’t even get a penalty.

“I did the same thing to him and got a sin-binning so it’s different rules for different people by the looks of that. I thought we did lose a lot of 50-50s (decisions).”

Brough, infamously spurned by England on two occasions, believes Australia will target the hosts’ right-edge just as he did with some success in the first period.

England coach Bennett was seething and said: “There was no particular reason for the slow start. They might have been reading the papers, thinking they just had to turn up and win. It makes picking the team easier for this week.”