Kearney wants Kiwis to lift for RLWC final

Nov 23, 2013 - 9:55 PM New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney concedes his side will need to find major improvement to topple Australia in the Rugby League World Cup final after they were "fortunate" to down England 20-18 in a thrilling semi-final at Wembley on Saturday.

Kearney hailed his team's never-say-die attitude after they snatched victory in the last minute of a scintillating match England had dominated for long periods, but lamented the fact they faced such a scenario.

Playmaker Shaun Johnson evaded a Kevin Sinfield tackle to jink over for a try he converted with the last kick of the game.

The result left Kearney and captain Simon Mannering satisfied but wary they'll have to step up another level when they play the final on Saturday at Old Trafford.

"I was always confident that if we had the footy with a minute to go and we were down by four points we had the ability to come up with something," said Kearney, who was at the helm of New Zealand when they posted a 34-20 upset win over the Kangaroos in the 2008 World Cup final.

"We didn't play real well but we hung in there and we gave ourselves a chance with a minute to go. That's a real positive.

"Take nothing away from their performance, England were outstanding."

Kearney joked that he had not particularly enjoyed the 79 minutes preceding Johnson's decisive intervention.

"I think we feel fortunate to come up with the play," he said.

"The opportunity presented itself and Shaun was good enough to take it, but we need to be better. There were parts of the game that were difficult to watch."

Skipper Mannering rued his side's lack of rhythm against an England side inspired by Sam Burgess.

"We didn't build much pressure throughout the whole game," Mannering said.

"They played really well and built a lot of momentum ... but luckily enough Shaun came up with the big play."

Mannering admitted the match had been tougher than their pool matches and quarter-final, in which the Kiwis were rarely troubled in racking up 186 points, with just 34 against.

"It was a bit of a step-up today," he said.

"We were just off the mark a touch.

"We're going to have to be better next week. We'll have to be good throughout the whole game."

England coach Steve McNamara said his team were "absolutely distraught".

"We did a lot of things right in this game," McNamara said.

England prop Sam Burgess was man of the match.

"I'm very disappointed for the team," he said.

"We put a lot of hard work into this tournament and we feel we've not got what we deserved."

Source: AAP