Headingley here we come

The Fiji match saw an improvement for Radlinski and co

Kris Radlinski, BBC Sport Online's man inside the England squad, looks forward to the start of the knockout stage of the World Cup next weekend.

The lads can't wait for Saturday's quarter-final against Ireland.

When the draw was made, we knew there was every chance we would end up playing each other, and that's how it has turned out.

It will be just like Super League. We've all got friends in the Irish squad, so there's plenty of pride at stake.

It will be a great game. They've got an awesome pack, so it's going to be a fantastic confrontation.

The first 40 minutes was scrappy against Russia and the gaffer got stuck into the players at half-time

  Kris Radlinski

This is when the competition starts to heat up.

The game against Fiji was effectively the start of the knockout stages for us, but now it begins to get really interesting.

Our squad is in a pretty healthy condition except for Leon Pryce's injury. He's gutted and everyone feels for him.

I didn't really know him before we all met up to prepare for the tournament but he's a cracking lad and it is sad to lose him.

I think the gaffer already has a pretty shrewd idea who his 17 will be for the Irish clash. I'm not expecting many surprises.

We put things right against Fiji - the gaffer wanted us to be ruthless and we were

  Kris Radlinski

Jamie Peacock may have forced his way into contention.

He has been outstanding in our last two games. Paul Wellens has caught the eye as well.

I sat out the win over Russia.

The gaffer obviously wanted to rotate the squad, but I was struggling with a slight thigh injury going into the opening match against Australia.

I wasn't able to train in the build-up, so I was given a chance to get myself 100% right.

The team has improved with every game.

Standards slipped against Russia

The first 40 minutes was scrappy against Russia and the gaffer got stuck into the players at half-time.

They knew themselves that they weren't performing as well as they could.

We seemed to be trying things that were never going to come off.

I think the lads felt the game was won before we had even kicked off.

It wasn't very professional but we put things right against Fiji.

The gaffer wanted us to be ruthless and we were. Now we've got to make sure our standards don't slip.

Family time

We've been given the chance to recharge the batteries back at home.

John Kear has been giving us the odd day off so we can go home and meet up with the family.

It's a good idea. We need a break from each other after spending three weeks in each other's pockets.

We will get together for a training session at Wigan on Monday before heading back to our camp in Leeds on Tuesday.

Then it's full steam ahead for our clash with Ireland. I can't wait.