Proud England dare to dream

Australia beat England 26-16 to virtually ensure themselves of a place in the Four Nations final, but the hosts had plenty to smile about after a stirring second half fightback.

England were blown away in the first half hour, conceding 26 unanswered points, but for the last 50 minutes they had the measure of the Green and Golds.

They won the second half 16-0 and finished by far the stronger, suggesting that if these two teams meet again the final in two weeks time, English hopes should not be written off altogether.

First England need to beat New Zealand next Saturday and if there is any repeat of their woeful opening to this game, that would be unlikely.

After a fairly solid start, England were cut wide open with just five minutes on the clock, ominously on the first occasion that Australia decided to give the ball some width.

Skipper Darren Lockyer spun out a long cut-out pass to give Greg Inglis the chance to burst through and it was Lockyer who was on his shoulder to take the return pass and score his 33rd try for his country.

England finally got a chance to launch an attack after 10 minutes and Leeds skipper Kevin Sinfield managed a half break underneath the Aussie posts only for his pop-up pass to go straight to a defender.

Almost inevitably, Australia made England pay from their first handling error after 14 minutes. Jamie Peacock knocked on inside his own 40 with an attempted offload that already smacked of desperation and England's right hand defence was again ripped wide wide open for Billy Slater to cross in the corner.

Slater claimed his second try four minutes later after Inglis broke from inside his own half and three minutes later Inglis had a try of his own.

Intercepted

England were attacking but Danny McGuire forced his pass, Jonathan Thurston intercepted and sent Inglis racing 70 metres to score.

The fifth try of the half came from another error after Sam Burgess knocked on inside his own 20 and two tackles later Brett Morris was over in the corner.

England could take some satisfaction in keeping the Aussies scoreless for the final 10 minutes of the half but they rarely - if at all - threatened to score themselves.

England actually ended the half on the attack with three consecutive sets deep inside the Australian half. But once again there was no way through the swarming defence and the pressure ended when Roby knocked on at the play-the-ball.

England started the second half well and finally managed to cross the line only for Ben Westwood to be held up by three defenders.

But moments later they were on the board following Sam Tomkins' clever chip over the top. That set up the position, Sinfield's short pass created the opportunity and a superb finish from Burgess earned the try.

That was the signal for England to take control of the match and Burgess almost had a second try but failed to ground McGuire's high kick.

The English defence also improved markedly and survived periods of Green and Gold pressure with relative ease.

Influence

Tomkins was having an increasing influence on the game and his grubber kick forced Slater into touch.

The Wigan star then set up the second try with a clever side-step that beat three defenders, before flipping the ball to Wests Tigers star Gareth Ellis for another fine finish.

England scented something and six minutes from time the best finish of the lot got them within two scores, as the ball was spun out wide and Lee Smith crashed in low at the corner.

Australia were wobbling in front of their own posts three minutes later only for James Graham's pass to go forward, giving the Kangaroos the chance to clear their line.

They did so with evident relief, but England will be dreaming of another chance to put them on the rack at Elland Road - this time without handing them a 26-point cushion.