Kangaroos still favourites despite stuttering win

Australia remain hot favourites to win the Four Nations tournament despite an imperfect win over England on Saturday and a crushing victory for New Zealand over France.

The Kangaroos blew England away 26-0 in the first half at Wigan's DW Stadium on Saturday before a fightback from the home side saw the final score settle at 26-16.

New Zealand played France in Toulouse on the same day and won 62-12 with a hat-trick of tries from winger Sam Perrett.

Despite the ongoing good form of New Zealand, Sportingbet have Australia as the 1.22 favourites while New Zealand are at 5.00 for the tournament.

England are on 13.00 with the same bookmaker, while France are out of the running thanks to their second loss in a row.


New Zealand and England now face a winner-takes-all tie on Saturday, with Kiwis forward Greg Eastwood expecting a tough challenge.

He said: "It'll be a full-on war - I expect them to come out strong as they always do."

New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney said while England did well to come back against Australia, he felt his side could have enough to get the win.
"I think come next weekend, with a good week's preparation I think we'll do well," he said.