Summary

  • Ferguson, Dugan (2), Merrin, Boyd & Cordner score tries

  • Three conversions & two penalties for Thurston

  • Kahu scores two tries for NZ; misses both conversions

  1. Thanks and goodbyepublished at 17:19 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    That is all for our coverage of the Four Nations.

    It ended as many of us expected it would. But it has been no less entertaining as a result.

    Scotland will always have THAT draw, New Zealand leave beaten but with head held high, the Aussies can bask in getting back their number one status. And England? Well, let's just say there is a lot of work to do.

    I'll see thee.

  2. Find a club near youpublished at 17:17 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Get Inspired
    Get Inspired

    Rugby League

    Have you been watching the rugby league on the BBC and wondering how you can get involved? To find a local club near you, head to this interactive map..., external

  3. Postpublished at 17:16 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Robbie Hunter-Paul
    Former New Zealand international

    It was interesting post-match last week when Wayne Bennett said the England players need to stop beating themselves and that the culture needed to change. Mal Meninga is focusing on the culture of the Aussie team. He has the talent there. Wayne cannot do that by himself. The guys underneath him need to imbed the mentality into the players. Wayne's system works but you need to buy into it. The All Blacks used a code for the last 10 years to be successful. Look at these successful organisations and imbed that into your squad.

  4. Postpublished at 17:16 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Brian Noble
    Ex-Great Britain coach on BBC One

    I'm not so sure England have gone backwards. The fact we used three different half-back pairings leads me to believe Wayne Bennett was looking at the whole squad. We've got some fabulous players and there are 10 or 11 of those playing in the NRL so they shouldn't worry about intensity or belief. There have been suggestions from 2000 about what should happen with the international team and then we abandon it after three years when new coaches come in.

  5. Postpublished at 17:12 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Kurt Gidley
    Ex-Australia half-back

    We need to inspire kids to play rugby league over football. One thing is finding the money to encourage young kids to play rugby league.

  6. Postpublished at 17:12 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Robbie Hunter-Paul
    Former New Zealand international

    One of the big things we have to compete against is that rugby union is a religion in New Zealand. The cream of the crop want to play that sport.

  7. Postpublished at 17:10 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Jon Wilkin
    Former England international

    One thing we can do is come up with a long-term plan. It feels like every year we're talking about the same issues, more competitive games and high-intensity games to match the NRL.

    This conversation has been going on for 15 years. We need more junior players, and we need to put that in a cohesive plan for 5 or 10 years.

    English rugby league has been at the bottom of the pile for 30 or 40 years. The main thing is to produce competitive half-backs who can manage a game.

    I've just been to Australia and there are kids on the beach throwing a rugby ball around. For me it was less Speedos and more overalls but that's the challenge we need to overcome. 

    We need everyone to decide on a strategy to make us competitive internationally.

  8. Postpublished at 17:07 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Brian Noble
    Ex-Great Britain coach

    The Kiwis aren't far away. They've had a disappointing tournament, that's all. They won't be far away for the World Cup. England will be stronger for the World Cup and Scotland will be there as well. I think we're in line for a really good World Cup. If I was in charge of England I'd be looking to play Australia and New Zealand as often as I possibly could.

  9. Postpublished at 17:07 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Robbie Hunter-Paul
    Former New Zealand international

    The longer term fix is to try making rugby league more high-profile in the north of England to get a bigger talent pool. Look at Rio Ferdinand in football. He is a tall, strong, quick athlete. We need to make the game more attractive to the talented youngster because they are all going to different codes.

  10. Postpublished at 17:04 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    New Zealand coach David Kidwell: "We spoke at half-time about getting our completion rate up. I wish we'd done that in the first half but there were encouraging signs that we can compete when we do that."

  11. Postpublished at 17:02 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Brian Noble
    Ex-Great Britain coach

    Right from 2000 we've talked about the depth of our player pool, the intensity of our competition between club and country. We're going to have to reduce the competitions and increase the intensity. That's going to be reducing the number of domestic games. If we want an impressive international team we've got to find more players and more intensity.

  12. Postpublished at 17:01 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Robbie Hunter-Paul
    Former New Zealand international

    If you look at the England spine, none of them play together. Boyd, Cronk, Thurston and Smith play a high intensity State of Origin together. The same with New Zealand who have this spine of the NZ Warriors. England need to consider how to get those combinations working together. Do we put the County of Origin game back on the schedule again?

  13. Postpublished at 17:01 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Kurt Gidley
    Ex-Australia half-back

    We've got a bigger catchment of players in Australia because the sport is so popular. We've got a lot more kids playing rugby league. Over here you've got football to compete with and we need to encourage more kids to play rugby league.

  14. Postpublished at 16:59 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Jonathan Davies
    Former dual code international

    We don't have the quality in Super League that matches the NRL. You can see the intensity getting higher and higher. Unless you cut the sides down in Super League and make them higher in quality it is difficult to see how you can match that. We have to look at something. But I don't have the answer.

  15. Postpublished at 16:57 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Kurt Gidley
    Ex-Australia half-back

    If I was a coach coaching any professional team I would be cutting videos of Australia tonight and showing them how to get decisions right. It is a clinical way to improve your players.

  16. Postpublished at 16:57 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Jonathan Davies
    Former dual code international

    Mal Meninga puts his players in the structure and they make all the decisions on the field. That has been difference - their decisions and execution at crucial moments during games. It was a brilliant performance by them today.

  17. Postpublished at 16:56 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Kurt Gidley
    Ex-Australia half-back

    New Zealand began chancing their arm when they were behind and that's when they got better.

  18. Postpublished at 16:56 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Robbie Hunter-Paul
    Former New Zealand international

    Australia looked hot before they even got to England. They didn't take the foot off. They got better and better. I had my fingers crossed hoping they had peaked already but they were ruthless in everything they did.

  19. Postpublished at 16:54 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Kurt Gidley
    Ex-Australia half-back

    The two Australian halves know which players to get through. They get that decision right 99% of the time.

  20. Postpublished at 16:53 Greenwich Mean Time 20 November 2016

    Brian Noble
    Ex-Great Britain coach

    New Zealand got more ball in the second half because they were more purposeful.