KEY POINTS:
The new England coach Tony Smith has enjoyed a dream entry to the job, with the England Rugby League throwing money at the team to finally prove that Super League produces a game and player to match the NRL.
Now he's under pressure and he's feeling it - otherwise why play selection games with the Kiwis in the build-up, fogging his choice of a 17 for today's knockout World Cup semifinal, questioning the decisions of both ref and video ref which gave the Kiwis a win last weekend, dismissing Aussie referees as incompetent and demanding an English one for this game.
Smith, younger brother of Newcastle's Brian and something of a student of his in terms of media front and manipulation, is now called "a whingeing Pom" by his former countrymen.
You can bet both teams have trawled over the video of last weekend's no-account game endlessly, looking for means of unlocking defences that will be tightened even further this contest.
England will have worked hard on a method to stop Manu Vatuvei after his four-try haul taken largely from wide passes. The Kiwis will still go to him because no Englishman alone can stop him.
The kicking game from England can be expected to be much better this time around.
They have used a wrestling coach to teach them how to defeat the tackle holds of the Kiwi and Aussie NRL players in a bid to get the quicker play-the-balls they are used to in Super League.
There is an injection of playing talent with Leon Pryce at five-eighth, the 2008 "Man of Steel" prop James Graham off the bench along with hooker James Roby whose incisive darts will increase the danger out of dummy-half and the roll-on from it.
"It's going to be a really physical battle, the game the other night was pretty close and we just need to take advantage of things we did not take advantage of last week," Roby said. "I'm always confident we have the ability - I'm going into this game with the frame of mind that we can win.
"It's not very often that you get the chance to reach a World Cup final so we know that there's going to be lot of enthusiasm and a lot of emotion in the game as well.
"One of the frustrating things is that we've not shown what we're capable of as a squad yet so there's no better time to show that."
England captain Jamie Peacock wants his team to digest the bitter experience of letting a 24-8 lead slip away and use it as motivation. "It's not gone, you need to learn from it and that will be with us all week - the things we can learn from it, the facts we can learn from it and how we can improve for the [next] game. I think it will be different - everyone's played now down here so it should be cohesive."
There is doubt over fullback Paul Wellens who has been carrying a hamstring injury. If he withdraws, Lee Smith will switch from wing and Ade Gardner will come into the side.
The Kiwis will miss the firepower of Steve Matai at centre. Simon Mannering has the defensive ability but not the game-breaking attack of Matai.
Kiwis coach Stephen Kearney is expecting the changes made by the English to spark their attack and make it more dangerous.
The crucial factor for the Kiwis is a fast start, one that throws England backwards in defence and nails early attacking opportunities to set them back mentally.
If England get points up early, they will not let go as easily as last week.
