Saturday 1 November 2014 08:25, UK
Playmaker Matty Smith knows England may never have a better chance of beating Australia on the Kangaroos' own turf as the old enemies prepare to lock horns in Melbourne on Sunday.
Home coach Tim Sheens accepts all the pressure is on his injury-decimated Australia side after their first defeat in four years left them vulnerable to an early exit from the 2014 Four Nations Series.
That surprise result against arch-rivals New Zealand in Brisbane has had the statisticians poring through the record books this week.
It is 60 years since Australia last failed to reach the final of a major tournament - Great Britain beat France in the climax to the inaugural World Cup in 1954.
But Sheens' men will miss out on a trip to Wellington on November 15 if the Kiwis avoid a shock defeat to outsiders Samoa in Wharangei on Saturday and 24 hours later the Australians suffer their first back-to-back losses at home since their last Ashes Series defeat in 1970.
We're looking forward to Sunday. It's looking really good. There's no bigger opportunity to beat the Aussies in their own backyard. It's going to be a great day and hopefully we can perform and do everyone proud.
Both teams will be wearing special jerseys to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the famous Rorke's Drift Test in Sydney, which was won by an England team reduced to nine men at times because of injury, and survivors from the last British team to win in Melbourne have been queuing up to talk up the chances of Steve McNamara's team emulating their feat from 22 years ago.
Current scrum-half Smith, who made his Test debut in England's opening 32-26 win over Samoa last Saturday, says the confidence of the class of 1992 is not misplaced.
"It's a pretty young squad," Smith said. "There's not much fear there. I think we've all done really well with our clubs this year and we've been picked on merit so we're confident. We've trained really well and we're going into it with a win under our belts as well.
"We're looking forward to Sunday. It's looking really good. There's no bigger opportunity to beat the Aussies in their own backyard. It's going to be a great day and hopefully we can perform and do everyone proud."
England are waiting on the fitness of newly-appointed captain Sean O'Loughlin, who was in the Great Britain team that won in Sydney in 2006, while Australia, already shorn of a dozen established internationals, still have a question mark over half-back Daly Cherry-Evans, and Sheens himself has been quarantined after coming down with flu-like symptoms.
If McNamara can restore the inspirational O'Loughlin to an already impressive-looking pack, it will significantly improve their chances of reaching a third Four Nations final, their first in the southern hemisphere.
It's pretty new for me obviously being in this environment. I'm enjoying playing with him and hopefully we can have a good last couple of sessions and go into Australia really confident that we can do a job.
Without a warm-up match, England were always going to improve from their opening fixture, regardless of the result, and Smith is confident there is much more to come, both from the team as a whole and from his new half-back partnership with Gareth Widdop, who will be back on familiar territory after starting his professional career at Melbourne Storm.
"Gaz is a great player," Smith said. "I've watched him for a few years now. He's my roomy on tour and I think it was a great move by the coaching staff to put me in with him.
"You get to know each other a little bit and I've been spending a lot of time with Gaz, drinking a few coffees and hanging around with him. That all helps when you go into the games to get a good partnership going.
"It's pretty new for me obviously being in this environment. I'm enjoying playing with him and hopefully we can have a good last couple of sessions and go into Australia really confident that we can do a job.
"It was nerve-wracking for me putting on an England shirt for the first time but it was great to get off to a winning start. I thought as a team we probably could have played a bit better but we got the job done, we got the two points, and we'll be better this week against a tough Australian side."
