Farrell prefers to praise Australia

Andy Farrell has refused to criticise Australia after a team-mate launched an attack on the "arrogant boasts" of the hot favourites for the World Cup.

Andy Farrell has refused to criticise Australia after a team-mate launched an attack on the "arrogant boasts" of the hot favourites for the World Cup.

The England captain had an impressive game, despite his side's 22-2 defeat against Australia in their opening World Cup game at Twickenham on Saturday.

Farrell remained far more diplomatic than the Bradford Bulls centre Scott Naylor, who responded to reports from the Australian camp that some players had claimed they would take anything but convincing victories in the tournament as "insults".

Despite Naylor's comments, Farrell believes that until the world crown is wrestled from their grasp, Chris Anderson's team have every right to boast.

He said: "The thing about the Australian team is that they have always been able to back up their statements. They are very confident of going out and performing and they are going out and doing the business."

Farrell refused to believe that it is this lack of assuredness that signals the gulf between the two countries. "The best way to go about it, from my point of view, is to shut your mouth, get on with the game and do your talking on the field," he said.

"We went out with a lot of passion on Saturday and we took the game to the Australians. But we can't make the statements that they are making at the minute because they are the world champions. We'll only start making statements like that when we are confident we can beat them."