4 Nations leaves England looking average

Australia had already booked their place at Anfield for next weeks 4 Nations final before they took to the London Stadium turf to play England.

England needed to draw or beat the visitors to join them in Liverpool. They didn’t look like they were capable of getting close without mistakes from the Australians gifting them points.

There were some very silly errors in the first half that cost England. Failing to make touch with the ball in hand on two occasions allowed the visitors to dominate the field.

Hopes had been high of a home win, a little over 10 years since England last beat the Kangaroos, and yet another England team that is supposedly blessed with a “golden” generation of players fell short when push came to shove.

The final score of 18-36 didnt really tell the whole tale.

Jermaine McGilvary went over for England’s first try and the lead after the two sides exchanged penalties early on, England fans began to believe that this could be their game, but when Blake Ferguson went over and Johnathan Thurston converting just before half time it began to look like another chapter in the same old story was about to be written.

Another penalty allowed the visitors to extend the lead to 6-10 right on the hooter.

Spirited stuff first half but it's the little things, like failing to find touch TWICE from penalties. And Thurston has the cojones! #EngAus

— Chris Irvine (@Chrisirvine) November 13, 2016

The second half began with Josh Hodgson almost getting in under the posts, only for him to lose the ball with the line begging.

Just three minutes later Greg Inglis made McGilvary look the wrong way and went over to make it 6-16 with Thurston adding the extras.

Just before the hour mark Matt Scott went over and the former Olympic stadium fell almost silent as Thurston again popped another 2 points to make it 6-22.

Then from the restart, the England defence melted like a Solero on a Sydney summers day and Josh Duggan went over.

As former Salford Devils coach said on twitter:

https://twitter.com/Iestyn_Harris/status/797825357697183744

Gareth Widdop managed to restore a little bit of pride after 68 minutes, and adding his own extras, England were 12-28 and there was a glimmer of hope from the home fans.

However it was Matt Gillett who finally put paid to any revival with a try on 72 minutes, that was followed by a dust up between England Captain Sam Burgess and Aussie David Klemmer, with the former lucky to escape a red card after catching Klemmer with a forearm, leading to a bandage, and England 12-32 as Thurston missed the conversion.

England however have the man dubbed WBW, Worlds Best Winger, Ryan Hall who managed to get on the end of a lovely move and cross for his 31st try in 31 games, and leave England 18-32

It was to be the Australians who had the last words, Valentine Holmes with an acrobatic score in the corner and with a minute to go, 18-36 was a scoreline that perhaps should have been wider, if not for the admirable defence of England at times.

Australia under the stewardship of legendary former player Mal Meninga are hoping to be the No.1 in the world if they beat New Zealand in the final, and on this showing, who could doubt that their golden generation of Cooper Cronk, Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith and co are more than capable of not only beating the Kiwis, but going on to retain the World Cup on home soil next year.

“We played a bit more direct.” Said Aussie coach Meninga after the the hooter

“I think they (England) are going places” he told the BBC.

The result left England once again looking at what went wrong during this tournament. Appearing in the final was the least Wayne Bennett was expected to achieve, given that his two predecessors Steve McNamara and Tony Smith managed it on home soil.

Have England improved under Bennett?

It’s too early to tell, but one thing that is obvious is that Australia playing representative games like State of Origin, allows them to work with each other away from their clubs and gives them an edge we dont have with our national side.

Perhaps it’s time to bring back the Lancashire v Yorkshire series to give us similar options in the future, as well as playing more international games.