Fantastic Fox stuns Kiwis

Fox: celebrated recall with brace of tries

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England have reached the Gillette Four Nations final with a 20-12 victory over New Zealand at the Galpharm Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts took control with three first-half tries, Kyle Eastmond's early effort being followed by a Peter Fox double to open an 18-6 lead.

Bryson Goodwin scored New Zealand's only points before the break with a 15th-minute try and a penalty but the world champions roared back in the second half.

Ben Matulino crossed for the Kiwis' second try just after the resumption, the start of a sustained period of pressure from the visitors.

But England stood firm with a committed defensive display and the win was sealed with man-of-the-match Kevin Sinfield's 71st-minute penalty.

Tony Smith's men advance to play Australia at Elland Road next Saturday in the final.

Battle

Eastmond, one of three changes to England's back division from the side beaten by the Kangaroos last week, crossed under the posts for the game's opening try in the ninth minute.

Sinfield made the initial break from dummy half and Sam Burgess then spun out of a tackle before releasing the St Helens half-back on a charge to the line.

New Zealand responded immediately, the ball being spun quickly from right to left to put Goodwin across in the corner.

The winger missed the conversion of his own try but did manage to land a penalty in the 29th minute, one of numerous infringements as referee Thierry Alibert struggled to control the tackle area.

The match turned in England's favour with Fox's quick double in the final six minutes of the first half.

The Hull KR winger, making his first appearance of the tournament in place of Tom Briscoe, took advantage of Goodwin's misjudgement to collect Sam Tomkin's crossfield kick for his first score on 34 minutes.

And he was in again just before the interval when Chris Bridge rounded Junior Sa'u before releasing Fox for a straightforward finish in the right corner.

Sinfield landed both conversions from the touchline to give England an 18-6 advantage at half-time.

Pressure

That 12-point cushion was was halved within two minutes of the restart when New Zealand produced a flowing move for their second try.

Replacement Issac Luke shot away from dummy half - and after Nathan Fien moved the ball wide, Matulino took a return pass from Sa'u to touch down.

As stalemate ensued and with a draw no good to England, Sinfield attempted a drop goal - which was charged down by Iosia Soliola.

But Sinfield had the opportunity to put two scores between the sides when the Kiwis were punished for interference at the play-the-ball in front of their own posts - and the Leeds captain made no mistake with the easy penalty.

England's defence continued to hold firm in the closing stages to ensure they get a second crack at the Kangaroos next Saturday.