Bateman: We just need to fix the little things

Ryan Hall gave England hope with his try

The Wigan forward says they only need to improve on “little things” from their 17-16 loss to the Kiwis.

Victories against Scotland and Australia will put them in the frame for the final, though they will also need the Kangaroos to lose to the Kiwis - or rack up a sufficient for-and-against to finish second in the ladder.

Asked if he remained confident of beating Australia, Bateman said: “Definitely.

“If you look at the passion and pride, it’s always been there, but little things cost us.

“We didn’t touch the ball in the last 10 minute of first half and that’s when they scored - if we fix things up we can beat anyone.”

Shaun Johnson’s drop-goal with 15 minutes to go seemed premature at the time, though it ultimately proved enough to split the two sides.

Some felt the halfback missed with his one-pointer, and video replays were inconclusive.

Bateman was in no mood to pick the game apart.

“It’s alright saying things now, but it’s happened and we move on,” he said.

“The score didn’t reflect what we wanted, but we need to move on and go again. The mood is a bit down but we know the positives we need to take from it and what we need to change.

“There’s definitely no worry, we’ve got the players and the coaching staff.

“We need to turn up for the Scotland team because if we don’t they’ll bite us on our backside.”

Wigan winger Lewis Tierney is in the Scotland squad which lost 54-12 on Friday night.