Smith - First half cost us

Smith: Bitterly disappointed

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After watching his England side go down to a 32-22 World Cup semi-final defeat against New Zealand, coach Tony Smith said a poor first-half performance left them in an impossible position.

Seven days after suffering a late defeat at the hands of the same side, England made a disastrous start in Brisbane on Saturday which saw them go 16-0 down.

"I don't think it was nerves - we were just poor in that first half," Smith told Sky Sports 2.

"Ten errors out of 15 sets - you cannot win games of rugby league like that.

"We did show commitment and desire and all those things. But you are playing catch-up all the time, and it costs you a lot of energy."

England tried to fight their way back in the second half and still had a chance of achieving a result almost until the end.

But their defensive frailties returned once more as a late try from Benji Marshall sealed victory for the Kiwis.

"Even in the last five minutes, we had a chance to win the game. We are all bitterly disappointed," Smith added.

"We spoke at half-time - how disappointed we were. We came out and put a better half together - but that first half cost us too much."

Third best

The result - together with last weekend's and England's 52-4 loss to Australia two weeks ago - confirmed Smith's assessment that they are the third-best team in the world.

"I am going to defend them to the hilt, because they are a good bunch of boys," he said.

"I picked them and I will stick by them and take responsibility.

"They have tried really hard; sometimes you are beaten by better teams.

"We were trying to push to be number one (in the world) - and we have probably ended up number three. That is probably where we have been for a while now.

"We just haven't put it together on the park - that happens after a long season. We are not going to hide behind referee's decisions."