England to face Australia in final

England booked a Gillette Four Nations final meeting with Australia next week by beating defending champions New Zealand 28-6 thanks to an all-action performance in Hull.

In a loser-goes-home battle, Steve McNamara's side - roared on by a near-capacity crowd of 23,447 - dominated the Kiwis up front and ran them ragged at the back - most notably through the outstanding trio of Sam Tomkins, Tom Briscoe and Ryan Hall.

Tomkins, who this week became the highest paid player in Super League when he signed a new deal with Wigan, won numerous penalties for his side as New Zealand struggled to live with him, while clinical finishes from all three, as well as an effort from James Graham, ensured Jason Nightingale's effort was nothing more than a consolation.

The excellent Ben Westwood, Kevin Sinfield and Graham all breached the Kiwis' line without being able to ground the ball but the pressure finally told on 27 minutes when England moved the ball to the left and Kirk Yeaman got Briscoe over unopposed at the corner. Sinfield landed the touchline conversion and extended his side's lead to 8-0 at the break with a penalty.

New Zealand were forced into an early reshuffle after losing full-back Kevin Locke with an arm injury and, although he was able to return half an hour later, he never fully recovered and went off for good after an hour.

With Gerard Beale deputising at full-back and second rower Elijah Taylor switching to centre, the Kiwis lacked punch on attack, where they relied almost exclusively on the craft of Benji Marshall.

It was no surprise when England extended their lead four minutes into the second half, with Jack Reed collecting Sinfield's high kick and combining with Westwood to get the in-form Hall over for his third try in as many matches with another clinical finish.

New Zealand briefly threatened a comeback when Marshall's long pass got Jason Nightingale over at the corner and the skipper converted from the touchline but England never really looked like relinquishing their grip.

They were forced to concede two goal-line drop-outs but Sinfield edged his side closer to victory with a second penalty after 65 minutes and England made sure when Graham forced his way over for a deserved try after Briscoe set up the position with a break out of defence.

Graham then helped pile on the agony for the visitors when he put Jamie Jones-Buchanan into a gap and the supporting Tomkins went over for England's fourth try, with Sinfield kicking his sixth goal.