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Gritty England show some fighting spirit
ALL is not yet lost for England, following their 26-16 Gillette Four Nations defeat by Australia.
England must beat New Zealand at Huddersfield on Saturday to secure a place in the Elland Road final seven days later.
Based on the way the tournament has gone so far, that's a tall order, but after flirting with total humiliation, England eventually showed signs against the Aussies that they may have at least one big performance in them.
Coach Tony Smith's side produced one good half, but unfortunately it was the second and by then the game was already lost.
Trailing 26-0 at half-time and jeered off after an embarrassing opening 40, England's only realistic goal was to regain some pride and avoid a record drubbing.
Three second-half tries and a shut-out at the other end did that.
The final scoreline was respectable and realistically, many England fans would have accepted a 10- point losing margin before the game.
Australia scored at will when they moved the ball wide. In the opening period centre Greg Inglis, a real monster, was unstoppable, scoring one try and providing the final pass for three of the other four.
After half-time, England controlled the ball, got physical, bashed the Aussies – who may well have taken their foot off the gas after a tough game the week before – and shut off the supply lines.
England proved their pack can match the Australians'. Two of the hosts' tries came up the middle, scored by forwards, but encouraging, Lee Smith got over for the third, out wide.
Backing up from the second half of the opening game against France, Leeds Rhinos skipper Kevin Sinfield was again among England's best.
Playing his natural game, he broke the line twice in the first half – only a lack of support preventing a score from his offload, which was intercepted, on the initial occasion – provided the final pass for England's opening try and handled in the build-up to the third.
Leeds winger Ryan Hall and Castleford Tigers centre Michael Shenton formed an encouraging partnership on the left-flank, defending strongly and looking for work on attack, though they didn't see enough ball.
England's right side was badly exposed during the opening 40, though Smith had a much better second half, when switched from centre to the wing.
Skipper Jamie Peacock was strong in the pack, but nothing went right for Leeds' other representative Danny McGuire, who got the bird from a section of the crowd when replaced late on.
Big Eorl Crabtree, the Huddersfield Giants forward, made a real difference off the bench, as did NRL-bound Sam Burgess in the second half, following a poor start.
Yet another replacement, St Helens wonderkid Kyle Eastmond, impressed and Wigan half-back Sam Tomkins showed some nice touches when he got in the game late on, stepping through the line to set up the second try, for Gareth Ellis.
Ironically, that was Ellis' first touchdown of the year, after failing to score in his debut NRL campaign with Wests Tigers. It capped a fine performance from the ex-Wakefield and Leeds back-rower.
Australia led 22-0 after as many minutes, through tries by Darren Lockyer, a Billy Slater brace and Inglis. Brett Morris added a fifth 10 minutes before the break and Johnathan Thurston kicked three conversions.
In the second half, Sinfield's clever reverse pass was finished by Burgess, before Ellis and Smith crossed, the final try coming with Thurston in the sin-bin for a professional foul on Smith. Sinfield and Smith each kicked a conversion.
ENGLAND: S Briscoe, T Briscoe, L Smith, Shenton, Hall, McGuire, Tomkins, Morley, Roby, Graham, Peacock, Ellis, Sinfield. Subs (all used): Crabtree, Burgess, Westwood, Eastmond.
AUSTRALIA: Slater, Morris, Inglis, Hodges, Hayne, Lockyer, Thurston, Civoniceva, C Smith, Hannant, Watmough, Gallen, Hindmarsh. Subs (all used): White, Shillington, Lewis, Farah.
REFEREE: Steve Ganson (England).
ATTENDANCE: 23,122.
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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