England’s playmaker Sam Tomkins is already talking up his team’s chances ahead of the Four Nations clash with Australia at Wembley on Saturday.
Both nations won their opening fixtures, although Australia were given a tougher workout than England, holding off a second-half fightback from New Zealand to win 26-12. The tournament hosts are 4/1 with bookmaker to defeat the Australians, who will pose a far greater challenge than the Welsh side they faced last Friday.
“Everyone knows that we haven’t beaten Australia for a number of years, so it’d be a huge boost if we could do it in the Four Nations. Success against them on Saturday will be huge for the sport over here,” said the Wigan half-back.
“Of course we respect them – they’re a quality team – but this is the strongest England squad I’ve ever been involved with, and if we’re going to win the tournament and beat the Aussies and Kiwis then the time is now.”
Tomkins, who scored four tries against Wales and was named man of the match, is likely to be selected again at full-back.