Monday 7 November 2016 13:53, UK
Scott Taylor admits he is sweating on his selection for England's crunch clash with Australia as coach Wayne Bennett threatens to wield the axe.
Bennett made clear his displeasure with his side's performance in the 38-12 win over Scotland which leaves them with an uphill task trying to reach the Four Nations final on Sunday week.
The veteran Australian is sure to make changes for the clash with his fellow countrymen at the London Stadium on Sunday and Taylor, who was deputising for the absent James Graham in Coventry last Saturday, knows he is vulnerable as long as the former St Helens prop recovers in time from his knee injury.
"I tried taking my chance," said the 25-year-old Hull prop, who made his Test debut in England's warm-up match against France in Avignon and was recalled for the game at Ricoh Arena.
"I feel I was maybe a bit too enthusiastic at the start, trying to get involved in too many tackles and leaving my tank a bit empty at the end of my stint and not offering as much as I'd like to.
"But I'm learning, it was my first completed game and I'm trying to kick on from here now.
"It will be Wayne's choice at the end of the day and, if it's not good enough, then I'll just keep working hard. I'm going to train hard and hopefully I can get in that 17 next week.
"There's five or six top front rowers in the squad of 24 - I knew that coming in - and I'll be trying to do everything I can to be in the 17."
England must now pick themselves up from their low-key display against the Scots, pull off a first win over Australia for a decade and hope to squeeze through to the final at Anfield on points difference.
"We did the job in the end against Scotland and it can still be in our hands going into next week," Taylor said. "We'll need a massive improvement, they're a top team for all to see and we know it's going to be a tough test.
"We'll train hard this week and get ready for the Aussies."
Wigan stand-off George Williams, another player making his first appearance in the 2016 Four Nations, will be more confident of keeping his place, although he says he was flattered to be named man of the match on Saturday.
"I thought I did okay, just okay," he said. "I didn't expect to get man of the match. Wayne said to me 'take it because sometimes you don't get it when you deserve it'.
"I was a little bit scrappy. It took me a while to get into the game but, once we started posting points, I felt more relaxed and at ease."
Bennett's most difficult decision will be whether to stick with the half-back pairing of Williams and Luke Gale or bring back the more experienced Gareth Widdop to face the Kangaroos.
Williams, who played in the Test series win over New Zealand last year, is desperately hoping to get the chance to go up against Johnathan Thurston and Cooper Cronk.
"If I do get the nod, it will be a great opportunity for me to test myself," said Williams, who admitted England will need a major improvement if they are to give themselves a chance of pulling off an upset.
"Australia are a great side and, if we turn up like we did on Saturday, we'll get pumped. We'll have to go up to a whole new level.
"I think we've got to put the Scotland game behind us and build on the New Zealand one because there were some nice positives from that game."
