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Peacock: England improving big time
Captain Jamie Peacock claims England have a bright international future – even if his own is undecided.
The Leeds Rhinos pack man said it is "too early to say" whether he will make himself available for next year's Four Nations tournament Down Under, when he will be 33. But Peacock insists England are moving forward, despite their 46-16 defeat by Australia in this season's final at Elland Road.
England – whose coach Tony Smith confirmed he is stepping down – led three times and were only six points adrift at the end of the third quarter, but Australia powered home with four late tries.
"I think we've improved big time," Peacock, pictured far right, said.
"If you look at the way we started the tournament, we were probably still suffering a hangover from the World Cup.
"But we improved as we went on and I think we've got some pride back.
"We were within 20 minutes of winning it and the young guys have been good, all the ones with less than five caps have been magnificent."
Of Saturday's result, Peacock said: "The scoreline reflected the last 20 minutes.
"Credit to them for playing like they did at the end. They have got probably the best backline they've ever had and they scored some quality tries late on."
Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield also feels England are improving.
Said Sinfield: "If you look at where we are now, compared to after the World Cup, we're in a far better state. We've put some pride back into our competition and into English rugby. We competed for 60 minutes, but for 20 it showed we're not quite there yet.
"People who haven't seen the game will look at the scoreline and think we're still miles behind, but I don't think that's the case."
For Leeds winger Ryan Hall, it was a shattering end to a magnificent season.
"I've had a good year, but after this it's hard to look at the positives," Hall admitted.
"It has been a good experience, but it's really disappointing to fall at the last hurdle."
Castleford Tigers centre Michael Shenton suffered "mild concussion" after being knocked out in a collision with Australia prop Ben Hannant
Shenton said: "I'm fine now. I've come round okay, but it's massively disappointing to miss most of the second half, when I thought we were going well.
"It's one of those things, when you play rugby league it's going to happen now and then.
"Fortunately it's the first time it has happened to me."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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