McNamara Preparing for Aussies

Coach Steve McNamara says England must approach their Four Nations clash with Australia at Wembley on 5 November differently to the 42-4 win over Wales.

Australia, defeated in the 2010 final, beat defending champions New Zealand 26-12 in their own tournament opener.

"We will need a different mindset," McNamara said.

"We can't wait and our preparation is already under way. The boys are recovering and those who are not playing are training hard."

Australia coach Tim Sheens criticised the performance of English referee Phil Bentham in the wake of his team's win over New Zealand, describing the match as "probably the slowest game I have seen for a long time".

But McNamara had little truck with the comments of his Kangaroos counterpart.

The former Bradford boss insisted his team would attempt to dictate the pace of play against Australia.

"We'll focus on what we're doing and the speed we're trying to play at," added McNamara.

"We've had this numerous times. Every time we go in to a tournament we get called 'whinging Poms', but it's us that seem to sit and listen to other people whinging about everything that goes on."

Wigan full-back Sam Tomkins, who scored three tries on his international debut against Wales in 2009, went one better as England ran out easy winners against the Dragons at Leigh.

"He's been in that form for Wigan and he brought those boots with him," said McNamara.

"He's a very potent player and he looked very sharp.

"I know Sam scored four tries and will grab the headlines, but Kevin Sinfield controlled the game. You could probably hear his talk and the influence he has on the rest of the team is enormous.

Australia Start with Kiwi Win

Australia began the Four Nations with a gritty 26-12 victory over defending champions New Zealand at Warrington.

They were ahead with only a minute gone as Matt Scott went over, and tries from influential Tony Williams and Johnathan Thurston put them 16-0 up at the break.

Two converted second-half tries in quick succession from Jason Nightingale and Kalifa Faifai gave the Kiwis hope.

But Darius Boyd put the Aussies back in command with a fine team try and Akuila Uate dived in to seal it late on.

After the game, Australia coach Tim Sheens hit out at the performance of English referee Phil Bentham.

"The conditions and the way it was officiated, as far as on the ground was concerned, made it a slug-fest," Sheens said.

"It is a Test match, we understand that, and we won it but if that is the standard of the speed of the game - it is probably the slowest game I have seen for a long time."

We got ourselves back into the contest and just lacked a bit of polish with a couple of opportunities near the try lineKiwi coach Stephen Kearney

After enduring a poor first half, New Zealand needed something quickly after the interval to make a game of it and almost came up with it when a slick passing move found Nightingale in space on the right flank, but the winger's pass inside was wayward and fell at the feet of Kevin Locke, who knocked on.

However, moments later Nightingale pounced on a loose ball following a flighted kick to the corner, a try confirmed by the video referee.

With the crowd sensing a fightback, Faifai continued the New Zealand resurgence by collecting an inside pass for another converted try, closing the gap to just four points.

Boyd settled Aussie nerves, neatly collecting a pass one-handed to finish a sweeping crossfield move, inspired by a Thurston dummy.

With 10 minutes left, the Kiwis thought they had found a lifeline when Nightingale cleverly flicked the ball back from the deadball line for Locke, but replays confirmed the winger had fractionally over-stepped.

Five minutes from time, all doubts were removed when Uate managed to get his left hand on the ball as he slid in following Billy Slater's deft through-kick.

It was a competent, if not infallible performance from the Australians, who meet England at Wembley on Bonfire Night, 5 November.

And Sheens said: "Obviously a win is very important and I wouldn't have wanted to be playing England at Wembley on the back of a loss, having to win it to stay alive."

Kiwi coach Stephen Kearney added: "We got ourselves back into the contest and just lacked a bit of polish with a couple of opportunities near the try line.

"That was the disappointment but the positive is it was better than the last performance."

England's campaign begins against Wales at Leigh on Saturday, while New Zealand turn their attentions to the Welsh next weekend.