GSBot

FOUR NATIONS FINAL: England v Australia
Highlights: BBC Two and BBC Sport website from 1700 GMT on Sunday.
England (10) 16
Tries: Burgess 2, Fox Goals: Sinfield 2

Australia (14) 46
Tries: Morris 2, Inglis, Slater 3, Smith, Hayne Goals: Thurston 7




Six tries in the final 27 minutes allowed Australia to maintain their dominance over England and win the Four Nations with a thrilling 46-16 victory.Sam Burgess and Peter Fox scored two early tries, but it was Australia who went into the break 14-10 ahead.

England went 16-14 ahead just before the hour thanks to Burgess' second.

But Australia were ruthless as a Billy Slater hat-trick and Brett Morris, Jarryd Hayne and Cameron Smith touchdowns secured a comfortable win.

Earlier in the week, a survey taken by an Australian newspaper found that 82% of Australians were backing the Kangaroos for victory.

The Antipodeans' confidence was justified as just a few weeks ago the green and golds had confidently dispatched the hosts 26-16 and memories of the heavy 52-4 defeat at last year's World Cup still remained strong.

Victory over Australia at Elland Road would undoubtedly therefore have been British rugby league's greatest triumph since Great Britain lifted the World Cup back in 1972.

But despite the final scoreline, there were moments in the match when England stood toe-to-toe with their rivals and seemed to be ready and able to make history.



England impressed in what was a breathtaking, end-to-end first half and quickly took the lead thanks to a coruscating Burgess try.

The NRL-bound 20-year-old dummied once and then outpaced a bamboozled defence to score underneath the post for a try which Sinfield converted.

Moments later and Burgess had the crowd on their feet once again when he burst through, only to opt for another dummy when a pass to Sam Tomkins would probably have been a better option.

It was a missed chance the hosts were to rue as the ruthless green and golds went upfield and scored, with Morris diving over in the corner and Thurston converting to level matters.

Australia were however making uncharacteristic handling errors, which was testimony to the pressure the England players were putting them under.

England deservedly scored a second try, Peter Fox touching down in the corner in the 19th minute after outjumping Jarryd Hayne to grab Kyle Eastmond's precise crosskick.


606: DEBATE
"Eastmond and Tomkins play schoolyard rugby. A halfback is supposed to kick and control the game not skip here and there and expect to break the line"


Bigbambino

But Australia's response was to shrug their shoulders and score one of the tries of the tournament.

The quick-thinking Cameron Smith and Thurston created space for Hayne, whose brilliant grubber kick dissected the England defence. The rest was left to the impressive Inglis, who outpaced the opposition and, according to the video referee, got his hands on the ball.

Thurston converted and then added a penalty as Australia controlled the final stages of the half.

Indeed, the visitors perhaps should have been further ahead only for a crunching Shaun Briscoe tackle on Inglis to thwart what looked like an almost certain score.

Sensing perhaps that history was beckoning, England began the second half with purpose and it was Burgess, put through by a lovely Gareth Ellis pass, who finished a sustained period of pressure with a lovely try.

Sinfield converted and with England 16-14 ahead the Elland Road crowd raised their voice to almost deafening levels.

Yet, just as in the first half, England's lead was short lived as three minutes later Slater crawled over the tryline to nudge Australia ahead.

It was Sinfield who conceded the penalty just inside his own half which allowed the green and blacks to move upfield to such devastating effect.



Just before the hour a brilliant Thurston kick into the corner found Brett Morris, who got his hands on the ball to score in the corner, for what seemed to be the turning point of the game.

England were forced to change their line-up when Michael Shenton was stretchered off after a clash of heads with prop Ben Hannant.

And the ferocity of the battle seemed to have an affect on the rest of the England players as Australia dominated, with the quick-witted Slater punishing England.

Slater, just as he was heading towards the deadball line, leapt into the air and tapped Darren Lockyer's kick back towards Cameron Smith, who scored underneath the posts.

Thurston converted before Slater went over for an easy converted try which all but sealed the Four Nations title for the southern hemisphere side.

Darren Lockyer carved open the England defence once again as Jarryd Hayne scored out wide before Slater completed his hat-trick to make it 46-16 for the visitors with two minutes remaining.



England: S Briscoe (Hull KR); P Fox (Hull KR), C Bridge (Warrington), M Shenton (Castleford), R Hall (Leeds); S Tomkins (Wigan), K Eastmond (St Helens); A Morley (Warrington), K Sinfield (Leeds), J Graham (St Helens), J Peacock (Leeds, capt), G Ellis (Wests Tigers), S Burgess (Bradford).

Replacements: J Roby (St Helens), E Crabtree (Huddersfield), B Westwood (Warrington), J Wilkin (St Helens).

Australia: B Slater (Melbourne); J Hayne (Parramatta), G Inglis (Melbourne), J Hodges (Brisbane), B Morris (St George Illawarra); D Lockyer (Brisbane, capt), J Thurston (North Queensland); P Civoniceva (Penrith), C Smith (Melbourne), B Hannant (Canterbury), L Lewis (Penrith), P Gallen (Cronulla), N Hindmarsh (Parramatta).


Replacements (from): D Shillington (Canberra), S Thaiday (Brisbane), A Watmough (Manly), K Gidley (Newcastle), M Jennings (Penrith), B White (Melbourne).