England prop James Graham admits he’s desperate for his first taste of success over Australia this weekend – and believes the national side have progressed enough in the last 12 months to make it a reality.
A British side has not beaten the Kangaroos since 2006 – and only two men, Sean O’Loughlin and James Roby, remain from the side that beat the Australians in the 2006 Tri-Nations.
Graham, however, believes that England can make that hoodoo a thing of the past at this year’s World Cup.
“I have never been in a team that has managed to get the victory over them,” Graham said. “And 2006 is a very long time.
“Yes I think so,” he added when asked if he agreed with Bennett’s prognosis that the national side has improved. “I think you can see that, the way the camp has been these past 10 days and you look back to the Samoa game so certainly if he says something like that I would agree with him.
“You look for evidence and I think that’s there.”
Graham also backed up Bennett’s comments about the performance being important this weekend as England look to start the World Cup with a bang by stunning the reigning champions.
“I do not really like to talk too much in hypotheticals,” he said. “The performance is the big one for us and we want to compete and perform well for 80 minutes.
“It is going to be incredibly difficult but that is what we are looking for, to be competitive and give ourselves an opportunity to win the game.
“We know we have to turn up on every play. It takes 80 minutes to win and only one moment to lose it.”
