Aussies too strong at Wembley

Australia celebrate: England underone at Wembley

Australia were at their ruthless best as they beat England 36-20 in their Four nations clash at Wembley Stadium.

The Kangaroos ran out the winners by six tries to four, but England had much the better of the opening exchanges and could have done much better had they converted their own chances and not handed Australia so many.

Australia seemed to punish every mistake England made, and their chances were not helped by Tom Briscoe seeing his try ruled out on the field when the video ref would have confirmed the score - it was only 18-8 at the time.

Ryan Hall scored twice, the first being a belter of a finish, while Jack Reed and Chris Heighington crossed for England, but injuries to Jamie Peacock and Ben Westwood could prove to be a problem for the rest of the campaign.

Australia scored through Luke Lewis, Greg Inglis, Chris Lawrence, Darius Boyd, Tony Williams and Paul Gallen, while Jonathan Thurston was exemplary with the boot as he converted all six tries.

Fast start

England started well and could have had a couple of tries before they eventually crossed the line, with Ben Westwood looking like touching down before Billy Slater pinched the ball from his grasp right under the posts.

The hosts did take the lead after 11 minutes when Kevin Sinfield's looping pass found Hall on the right touchline and, despite Slater's powerful shoulder barge, Hall managed to touch down one-handed while in mid-air to send the Wembley crowd wild.

Slater's attempt to slam Hall into touch was his last action not only of the game but also of the Four Nations as he had to go off with a broken collarbone.

England had been dominant but in their first real attack, Australia showed their clinical nature as Thurston's pass was flicked on by Inglis for Lewis to step inside, twist, and touch down for the try - which Thurston converted to put the Aussies ahead.

Australia stepped up a gear after that, and Williams showed his immense power to make a try out of nowhere as he simply floored would-be tackler Heighington with his upper body strength to then enable him to cross unopposed.

Conversion

Thurston again converted for 12-4 and it could have been worse had Cooper Cronk not dropped the ball after a sparkling passing move threatened to carve a startled England wide open once again.

It was looking bleak for the hosts, but they got back into it just on the stroke of half time when Sam Tomkins burst free and slipped a cunning pass for Reed who in turn fed Hall to power in at the same corner as his first. Sinfield's conversion hit the post but England were back into the contest.

Straight after the break though England fell asleep and a Thurston pass saw Inglis waltz in, before a hugely contentious moment when referee Henry Perenara ruled Briscoe had used a double movement to get the ball down over the line.

Strangely he did not go to the video ref to confirm, and the 43,000 inside Wembley voiced their disapproval when replays showed Briscoe had clearly not grounded the ball carrying arm before going over the line.

That decision was compounded just four minutes later when Cronk offloaded for Gallen to run in behind, and yet England were still not done as Reed rose highest to pull in Sinfield's high bomb to keep the home side hopeful of turning things around.

With nine minutes left Australia finally broke England's resistance with Thurston picking off Rangi Chase's offload and almost racing the full length of the field, but even after being caught he got back into position and the Aussies switched the ball to the right for Boyd to go over.

Heighington responded again for England but Lawrence made it a 16-point defeat that was a touch harsh in terms of possession and chances but showed how clinical Australia can be at their best.

England must now dust themselves down and beat New Zealand next Saturday in Hull to get another crack at the Aussies in the Four Nations final.