Beaten but unbowed, England fullback AJ Brimson is adamant his team can hit back hard against France in their Round 2 clash in Perth.

Needing to finish in the top two of the combined Pool B and Pool C ladder to progress to the semi-finals, England sit fourth behind Tonga, Samoa and PNG as they head into the France game.

“Obviously, the problem with the World Cup is you can't really afford to lose too many games – if any – but I thought Tonga scrambled really well,” Brimson said.

“I thought we were on top for parts of that game and credit to them, they saved a lot of tries, especially in that first 20-30 minutes which potentially deflated us a little bit and then they would go down there and score.

“I still think we played well last week but we can always be better.

“(With) our game plan, I thought we did execute it, but again, when you don't come up with points, it looks a lot worse than it is.

“I feel like we had four or five try-scoring opportunities in the first 20-30 minutes, but they scrambled really well, so it's probably highlighted it more than it should be.

“I thought it flowed actually quite well, but we've just been building on that into this week.”

England have won 23 consecutive Tests against France but Brimson will be taking nothing for a granted against an opponent desperate to rebound after a big loss to Samoa.

“Obviously the French have a few nippy kind of players, I think that's the way they'll go, but we're just trying to focus on ourselves," Brimson said. 

“Coming up against England, it will be a bit more personal, so they'll be ready to go and that's our sole focus.

“While there's a chance (of progressing), as I'm sure most teams have the same mindset, while there's a chance, you want to put your best foot forward and see what could happen.

“Crazier things have happened in the past, so, we're planning on getting our game right and then hopefully going down and getting our game right next week (against Papua New Guinea) and just seeing what position we're left in."

Brimson is relishing the opportunity to take on more responsibility in his first World Cup campaign in the fullback role, a return to the position where he first made his name.

“There's always a lot I can work on, was my first game of fullback in about 400 days or whatever, 365, whatever it is... I felt comfortable, but a little bit rusty, can always be better,” Brimson said.

“I remember literally being in one defensive set and thinking ‘it's good to be back’.

“Hopefully there's more to come but still got a lot to work on to get back to where I can be.”

Another embracing his return to the international stage is back-rower Kai Pearce-Paul, who admitted to feeling some nerves in Round 1 after missing the last 12 weeks of the NRL season with a torn pec.

The former Wigan and Newcastle gun was hitting some career-best form before being sidelined after he suffered the injury against Brimson’s Titans in Round 15.

However, a World Cup berth was one of the goals that helped him maintain his focus during his lengthy rehab.

 “It was a bit crazy really," Pearce-Paul said. 

“When the injury happened, my first priority is trying to get myself fit for club level, but, at the same time, I knew that the World Cup was approaching and it was obviously something I really wanted to be part of.

“Every time I played for England, I love being in camp with the boys and so it's something I definitely had to work towards.

“Originally I was hoping to get back for the last couple of rounds of the NRL, but they ended up resting me, gave me like an extra six weeks until the first game, so, I was in touch with the coaches and updating them and my physios were too.

"There was a protocol in place that I had to hit a certain target of strength in my pec before they would let me play and I got there in the end so it was good.

“I worked pretty hard on my rehab and luckily I got back in time.”