England coach Tony Smith remains confident his side's Rugby League World Cup campaign is on track despite a lacklustre performance in the opening game against Papua New Guinea.

The tournament heavyweights were lucky to escape with a 32-22 win after a poor first-half display had them trailing the Kumuls 16-12 at the break.

If not for a mountain of possession and a series of questionable forward-pass rulings cruelling PNG's chances, the tournament could have kicked off with a boilover of epic proportions.

But Smith predicted it was a game that would do more good than harm to his side's title aspirations.

"I am glad we had it, we were ready to have a game and fix some things up that needed fixing up," Smith said.

"We probably trained as much as we could and prepared as much as we could without playing a game so the next step was to get into a game and find out where we needed to improve.

"We found out a whole lot there which was good.

"We have plenty of avenues we will need to improve on if we're going to compete with Australia (in Melbourne next Sunday) and come up with a result that we like next week."

Smith said his side showed a determination and fighting quality that would hold them in good stead throughout the tournament.

"We found out a fair bit about ourselves and our character too," he said.

"To be able to not play great and win and find a way to win and turn things around when things are going against you is a great thing to have."

Meanwhile Kumuls coach Adrian Lam, who was reeling after the game as a result of the forward pass calls, said his side hadn't even looked at their next fixture, having thrown all of their pre-match preparation into the England game.

PNG line up against New Zealand on Saturday at Skilled Park on the Gold Coast.

"We have a big task against New Zealand next week and to be honest with you that last four weeks have been about planning to play and beat England," he said.

"We haven't even looked at New Zealand.

"But I think we can be competitive against Australia and New Zealand."

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