England staged a second-half fightback but lost to Australia after a miserable first-half left them with too much to do in their Four Nations match.

Two tries from Billy Slater and scores from skipper Darren Lockyer, Greg Inglis and Brett Morris put the Kangaroos 26-0 up at half-time.
The second period and the Australians could not add to their score, as England improved considerably and finally enjoyed a spell of pressure close to the Australian line. This led to Sam Burgess, Gareth Ellis and Lee Smith scoring but the damage was already done and although England had closed the difference to 10 points time ran out and so we had the final score of:

England 16-26 Australia

Scorers

England
Tries: Burgess, Ellis, Smith Goals: Sinfield, Smith
Australia
Tries: Lockyer, Slater 2, Inglis, Morris Goals: Thurston 3

Teams

England: S Briscoe; T Briscoe, Smith, Shenton, Hall; McGuire, Tomkins; Morley, Roby, Graham, Ellis, Peacock (capt), Sinfield.
Replacements: Burgess, Crabtree, Eastmond, Westwood.

Australia: Slater; B Morris, Inglis, Hodges, Hayne; Lockyer (capt), Thurston; Civoniceva, Smith, Hannant, Watmough, Gallen, Hindmarsh.
Replacements: Farah, White, Lewis, Shillington.

Referee: S Ganson