Kangaroos secure Four Nations win

England fell victim to the Kangaroos' backs at Wigan's DW Stadium before treating the 23,122 crowd to a stirring rally which gives them genuine of hope of reaching the November 14 final.

Trailing 26-0 at the break, England achieved the rare distinction of nilling their star-studded opponents in a passion-packed second-half performance that made a mockery of their earlier woeful display. Tries from Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis and Lee Smith, allied to superb individual efforts from little Sam Tomkins and big Eorl Crabtree, turned the game on its head to rekindle hopes of beating New Zealand in Huddersfield next Saturday and earning a final rematch with the Australians.

Yet England had left the field at half-time with boos ringing in their ears as Australia's quicksilver backs cut their defence to ribbons in a show worryingly reminiscent of their 52-4 World Cup rout in Melbourne just 12 months ago.

Tony Smith's men simply had no answer to the rapier-like thrusts of centre Greg Inglis as Australia demonstrated what we knew all along - that England have the forwards but not the backs to match the tournament favourites.

The Kangaroos' first-half points spree was sparked by skipper Darren Lockyer, who marked another landmark occasion in fitting fashion. The 32-year-old Brisbane stand-off broke Mal Meninga's record as Australia's most-capped player in the opening game and against England equalled the feat of another legend, Clive Churchill, in leading the Kangaroos for a 27th time.

Lockyer also matched Ken Irvine's all-time tryscoring record with his 33rd try on his 48th appearance, touching down just four minutes into the match.

Full-back Billy Slater went over twice in four minutes after more scintillating handling from man-of-the-match Inglis, and the Australian half-backs and the Kangaroos were going at a point a minute when the long-striding Inglis added a fourth try on 22 minutes.

It got even worse for England when Inglis got winger Brett Morris over for a fifth try eight minutes before half-time to make it 26-0.

They managed to regroup at the break and produced an impressive second-half display - but the damage had already been done.