League: England go to extreme lengths to stop Inglis

Kangaroos centre Greg Inglis has been unstoppable in his last two tests against England. Photo / Getty Images

LEEDS - England's quest for rugby league silverware has stretched halfway around the world, after it was revealed Lions coach Tony Smith had consulted brother and Sydney Roosters coach Brian for some help in stopping Australian superstar Greg Inglis.

Inglis has been simply unstoppable in his last two matches against England, having scored three tries in last year's 52-4 World Cup thumping before backing that up with another man of the match performance at Wigan just over a week ago.

Such was his destruction of the English defence that winger Tom Briscoe was hooked at halftime, while the man Inglis had run rings around, Lee Smith, was shunted out to the wing.

Having earned themselves a rematch with the Kangaroos, England have left no stone unturned in their search for glory, and finding a way to stop Inglis has been put at the top of their to-do list.

"We've spoken to a lot of people in Australia who have tried in the past, a lot of experienced coaches," England assistant coach Steve McNamara said.

"Obviously there's the Tony Smith-Brian Smith connection and there's a lot of other good coaches out there who have tried to stop that.

"He's a tremendous athlete, a super athlete, a super player and we probably will need to team up on him if we are going to stop him.

"We're not terrified but we've certainly got a lot of respect for him. " "The young boy on the wing (in Wigan) Tom Briscoe, he's only 19 and he's only played 20 first-team games in the Super League.

"It wasn't nice seeing what happened to him in that game, getting pulled off at halftime, but in terms of the future of rugby league in England, that kid will learn immensely from that.

A man who watched the carnage take place from the safety of the grandstand in Wigan is likely to get a much closer look at the Inglis express on the weekend, Peter Fox expected to retain his spot from the game against the Kiwis on the right wing.

Fox scored a double in England's 20-12 win over New Zealand last weekend, but with Inglis running down his edge of the field, his focus won't be scoring tries this Sunday (NZT).

"We know what he's capable of," Fox said.

"He's got amazing ability, strength, power and speed - you name it, he's got it and we've got to rise to that challenge to do any good on Saturday.

"We know they're going to cause a lot of threat on that side with Inglis and (Darren) Lockyer. " And therein it seems lies the solution to England's concerns, with Lockyer set to be the target and not not Inglis.

"I suppose if you stop the ball getting to (Inglis) in the first place that's probably the best way of (stopping him)," McNamara said.

"We got exposed on the edge, we left people with a lot of space to deal with him. " Despite the obvious threat, Fox said he was relishing his first-up assignment against the Australians.

"It's the biggest game of my life - I've always wanted to play against Australia, I've watched them since I was a little boy.

"I went on a tour to Australia when I was 16 and didn't get picked - I've still never played against them. "

- AAP