Smith: Aussies won't be quaking

Smith was greatly encouraged by his side's 56-8 victory over the French in Toulouse in their major warm-up ahead of the trip to Australia in October but he was keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

"Australia won't show much regard to this result but this is all about building confidence," he said. "It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks as long as the players believe."

He added: "I couldn't have asked for too much more but we're not getting carried away.

"We're pleased with the performance they've put together over the whole week. They've done a professional job."

France, who had three men making their debut, may be favourites to get out of their World Cup group, which also includes Fiji and Scotland, but on this performance will struggle to get any further in the competition.

However, they were without scrum-half Maxime Greseque and injured Catalans players Jerome Guisset, David Ferriol and Dimitri Pelo, and Smith had encouraging words for John Monie's men.

"They probably showed that they were missing a few players and perhaps had to rely on people who weren't up to the Super League level," he said. "They tried very hard but ran out of steam.

"I thought they were very courageous and made it difficult for us to score close to their line. I think they are going to get stronger and stronger."