England just cope against Gene genius

Only two things could have further cheered up Stanley Gene on Saturday night – actually beating England as opposed to threatening to do so and being a teenager again.

The old warrior led a magnificent effort by the Kumuls that came close to embarrassing England in the opening game of the World Cup, but Gene's thoughts afterwards were with the young players following in his footsteps. "I'm so proud of these young lads," he said. "I just wish I was 16 again. I would come back every year and play with them."

The Hull KR hero was an inspiration as the Kumuls led at half-time and was genuinely disappointed they did not go on to win. However, in the broader sense of establishing credibility for more international matches and even bidding for a place in Australia's NRL, this match was a triumph for PNG. "We were supposed to be here to make up the numbers, but we wanted to show the rugby league world that we're better than that," he said. "I think we did that."

Indeed, they did – and several of the Kumuls' young stars can expect to be made offers by clubs on one side of the world or other, just as Gene himself was back in 1995. "That changed my life and the same thing can happen to them," he said.

But for a couple of forward pass decisions that went against them, PNG could have wrecked England's World Cup. That they failed to do so was down to some steady improvement for England in the second half and the ability of their wingers to get outside their men.

But if a total of five tries to Lee Smith and Ade Gardner makes it sound like a fluent performance, it was anything but. Smith is a good example. Although he scored three tries – not a bad effort on anyone's England debut – he also made some poor decisions and knows he must improve if he is to satisfy his coach, Tony Smith. "It's always nice to score tries, but there's a lot I need to improve on," he said.

The Leeds man also suffered a foot injury, which required heavy strapping afterwards, and is an obvious doubt for the game against Australia in Melbourne next Sunday.

England need to improve that evening. Although their coach was at pains to appear unconcerned by a sub-prime opening display, there were things there that must have worried him. Top of that list would have been the ineffectiveness of the half-back pairing of Leon Pryce and Rob Burrow, who made such a promising start together in the series against New Zealand last year.

England were noticeably sharper when Danny McGuire was on the field, although that might have had something to do with the Kumuls tiring.

In the end, their victory margin owed plenty to three touchline conversions from Kevin Sinfield – a sure sign of how precarious it was.

England: Wellens; Gardner, Gleeson, Senior, Smith; Pryce, Burrow; Peacock (capt), Roby, Graham, Ellis, Hock, Sinfield. Substitutes used: McGuire, Morley, Fa'asavalu, Wilkin.

Papua New Guinea: Wilshere; Kepa, Maori, Joe, Moore; Gene (capt), Peters; Aizue, Aiton, Exton, Costigan, Nightingale, Griffin. Substitutes used: Pora, Moni, Chan, Wabo.

Referee: S Hayne (Australia).