Australia dashed England’s slim chances of making the Four Nations final with a comfortable 44-18 win over Samoa.
England needed a massive upset by less than eight points to get a second go at New Zealand, who beat them 16-14 on Saturday, but the Kangaroos didn’t play ball on Sunday.
Cooper Cronk scored a try in the first minute and got himself a second later on, while Greg Inglis also scored a pair of four-pointers.
The Samoans struggled for discipline with five penalties in 15 minutes gifting easy territory to the World Cup champs, but rallied through Tim Simona and Pita Godinet.
A 70m dash from Daly Cherry-Evans from a scrum took back control, before David Klemmer opened his own Test account.
Samoa’s Ben Roberts, Castleford-bound in 2015, and captain David Fa’alogo also crossed for the underdogs.
But Cronk crossed again, followed by a last-five minutes flurry from Josh Papalii and Josh Mansour.
Australia face New Zealand, who have gone through their three matches undefeated after beating the Kangaroos in the tournament opener, on Saturday with a 7.30am kick-off (UK time)
Image via Getty
