IF England fail to make it past New Zealand in the World Cup semi final at Wembley on Saturday, then Andrew Johns believes he knows the reason why.

It is not the pack, with NRL success stories the Burgess brothers, James Graham and Wolves’ Chris Hill already showing that they can stand tall with the best on the world stage.

For Johns, the problem lies in the back line.

“The halves, the five eighths and the dummy halves is an area where the English game has to really improve,” he said.

“If you look at the Australian halves, you’ve got Thurston, Cronk and Cherry-Evans in there somewhere too.

“The Kiwis have Shaun Johnson and Kieran Foran, and those five players are arguably the best halves in the world.

“It is in those areas that England really need to look at, I think.”

If anyone has the authority to make such statements, it is Johns.

The only player in history to win the NRL’s prestigious Dally M medal three times, the half back also captained New South Wales to an Origin series win in 2003 and is largely accepted to be one of the sport’s best playmakers of the past few decades.

England’s much-discussed use of New Zealand-born half back Rangi Chase is a case in point.

While – within the rules – there is no issue with using a player who up until 2010 played his international rugby for the Maoris, it seems to indicate that England’s own coaches believe there is a lack of sufficiently talented stand offs and scrum halves being produced in this country.

Even Halifax-born Melbourne Storm stand off Gareth Widdop, who has played a low number of minutes for England in this current World Cup campaign, was trained mostly in Australia.

Johns is once again helping to develop Warrington Wolves’ playmakers while he is over here to watch the knockout stages of the World Cup.

One session took place with half backs and hookers on Tuesday, with another planned for tonight, Thursday. First-teamers Richie Myler and Stefan Ratchford watched on due to still being in casts following post-season operations.

With stalwart stand off Lee Briers now retired, Wolves fans will be hoping that the two-time NRL Golden Boot winner can play a part in helping the remaining first-team and junior half backs to rise to new levels.