England captain Jamie Peacock has promised a marked improvement from his side as it prepares to take on Australia in the next stage of the Four Nations.
Peacock's men made a low-key entrance to the new-look competition with a 34-12 win over France at Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium on Friday night and need to step it up against the Kangaroos and the Kiwis if they are to reach the November 14 final.
"We need to improve, definitely," said Peacock. "It's our first real hit-out as a proper team together.
"We'll improve as the tournament goes on. It's not about being great now, it's about building each week."
England was forced to rally after the fired-up French threatened to pull off their first win over the Poms for more than 27 years.
Tries from Vincent Duport and Kane Bentley, both converted by Thomas Bosc, put the Catalans Dragons-dominated visitors in control and Peacock admitted the French deserved their 12-4 interval lead.
But the skipper was thrilled by the way his side fought back, aided by a two-try burst from teenage halfback Richie Myler.
"We started well but dropped off after about 20 minutes," said Peacock. "I thought France played well and probably deserved to be leading going in at half-time.
"They're a good side and we were just that bit off. If you are a bit off at this level, you get punished.
"But I thought we played better in the second half, we were a bit more cohesive.
"It's a sign of a good team that you can come from behind and win like that. We didn't panic because we have belief in ourselves.
"We've only had three training sessions together so it's about building for next week now."
England will re-group on Monday to prepare for its meeting with the Kangaroos in Wigan on Saturday and Peacock admits the excitement is starting to mount.
"It's exciting playing Australia," he said. "We're looking forward to the next two weeks when we get to play the world number ones and the world champions within two weeks."
Meanwhile, Peacock paid tribute to his former Leeds team-mate Gareth Ellis, who was named man of the match on his second appearance for England as a Wests Tigers player.
The second rower demonstrated exceptional stamina to play the first 70 minutes non-stop before taking a well-earned breather.
"I thought Gaz was outstanding," said Peacock. "He's been playing for 80 minutes every week in the NRL.
"He's quite some player, one of the best I've played alongside and he's proved it again.
"He's been great all year for Wests Tigers and it was another great performance from. He's just a fantastic player."
Peacock also pointed to the impact made by substitutes James Graham and James Roby as another positive to draw from the match and was delighted with the contributions of rookie wingers Ryan Hall and Tom Briscoe, who both scored second-half tries.
"Jammer and Robes came on and played real well," said the captain. "I thought they smartened us up. Tom Briscoe and Ryan Hall were fantastic."