Kiwis too strong for England

England's Gillette Four Nations hopes are hanging by a thread after they suffered a 24-10 defeat to New Zealand in the tournament opener in Wellington.

England will now almost certainly have to beat tournament favourites Australia in Melbourne next weekend to keep alive their hopes of reaching the final on November 6.

There were some promising signs for a young England side after they were completely outplayed in the opening 40 minutes.

The visitors improved markedly after the break and probably had the better of the second half, but after the video referee harshly ruled out Kevin Brown's try that would have got England to within four points, their challenge fizzled out.

Giant Kiwi winger Manu Vatuvei's tournament ended inside two minutes after he fractured his arm in a collision before he had even touched the ball, but he had barely left the field before his side went ahead.

The recalled Stuart Fielden conceded a penalty for a high shot and a brilliant long pass by his Wigan teammate Thomas Leuluai put Junior Sa'u in at the corner. Skipper Benji Marshall missed the conversion but the Kiwis were under way.

England looked nervy and were struggling to retain possession, hardly the ideal combination against a New Zealand side brimming with confidence, pace and attacking intent.

On 16 minutes James Roby lost the ball attempting an offload and after England deliberately slowed the play in front of their own line, Marshall knocked over a penalty to stretch the lead.

It took 20 minutes for England to mount an attack of note, but it broke down in the final quarter as Sam Tomkins was pinged for a forward pass.

But after Sam Burgess knocked on, England were lucky to escape when Simon Mannering's try was ruled out for a pass that looked equally marginal.

Foothold

England were just beginning to get a foothold in the contest when the Kiwis scored a magnificent try with a move that started deep in their own half.

Marshall exploded into action, shipped the ball to Jason Nightingale at pace and his offload put Lance Hohaia in under the posts, Marshall slotting the conversion for a 12-0 half-time lead.

That was quickly 18-0 three minutes after the break as Gareth Widdop knocked on a high ball on his own 10 metre line and Shaun Kenny-Dowall shrugged off three attempted tackles to go in from 15 metres out.

England were wobbling but held on bravely before Roby gave them hope on 55 minutes, touching down his own grubber kick after it rebounded kindly off a post.

Widdop converted and hope became belief straight from the kick-off as England kept the ball alive on the fringes, Michael Shenton burst up through the middle and offloaded to Brown with Widdop in support to score, although the Melbourne full-back missed a straightforward conversion.

Key moment

The game's key moment came on 65 minutes. Sam Tomkins chipped through and Brown did well to touch down, but behind him Greg Eastwood was performing a soccer-style dive that attracted the referee's attention.

The video referee adjudged Eastwood had been pushed - there may have been the merest of contact - and the try was chalked off.

Moments later Marshall made a trademark darting run, exchanged passes with Nightingale and finished brilliantly in the corner under pressure from Widdop. Marshall converted and in a flash England's challenge had gone.

Now it is win or bust against the Kangaroos.