BRAD O’NEILL believes that England have some important lessons to learn following their 30-12 defeat to Tonga in Perth on Saturday.
Brian McDermott’s side will need results elsewhere to swing their way, alongside winning their remaining group games against France and Papua New Guinea, if they are to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup.
While the game in Perth was tight in parts, Tonga made the most of several key moments to come away with a vital win.
“It’s a tough loss to take, with it being the opener and the magnitude of it – it’s very disappointing,” O’Neill said.
“I thought the boys worked really hard and dug in there. Against a really big, powerful, skilful team like Tonga, you probably need to be at your best, and we probably weren’t in some areas.
“There are some lessons that we can take forward into the tournament.
“I felt like we started the second half pretty well, like we were on top and dominant. We had some moments, but then a couple of momentum swingers got us, and it feels like they made the most of them. You can’t give those moments to Tonga because they’re going to take them.
“We’ve got to take some pretty important lessons from this game. We then need to move on and stay connected. We can only go game by game to see where it takes us.
“We just need to focus on doing our jobs and putting our best foot forward.”
