MARK Percival admits the time for ‘fancy plays’ is over when England take on Australia.
Wayne Bennett’s men failed to convince anyone they can beat the Kangaroos in London on Sunday and reach the Four Nations final.
St Helens man Percival scored one of the seven tries that saw of Scotland 38-12.
But he was one of the first to admit any repeat of the showing at Coventry just will not cut it.
Chasing the show-stopping tries with dazzling passes is anything but all well and good when it comes to The London Stadium.
Percival said: “Australia are a class side but we’ve got to play harder and more physical, rather than doing all the fancy plays.
“We’ve got to take it to them and that’s what we’ll be doing.
“In the first half against Scotland, we were lacking a bit of urgency and commitment but we showed it in the second.
“I threw a bad pass to Ryan Hall – a flick-on that I did was bad – and I was struggling to get in the game a bit.”
Percival replaced Dan Sarginson at centre for the Scotland win and faces a battle with the ex-Wigan man for a place on Sunday.
But for the 22-year-old, just being in the international set-up is enough of a thrill.
He added: “Just being around Sam Burgess and James Graham is a dream come true really, ust to train with them, let alone play.
“It was nice to get in the England squad this year as I’d had quite a few injuries and was struggling to get a lot of game time.
“But they obviously saw something when I was on the pitch.”
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