KEY POINTS:
England enforcer Adrian Morley has warned that the underperforming Lions are close to producing the goods as they head into their World Cup semifinal with New Zealand in Brisbane tonight.
England's pool matches have brought a close shave over gallant outsiders Papua New Guinea, a near-50-point thrashing by
Australia, and a second-half capitulation that ended with the Kiwis running them down from behind to win 36-24.
However, Morley preferred to focus on the positives and was even looking beyond this weekend.
The uncompromising prop admitted the World Cup had not gone to plan for England, who were "scratchy' against PNG.
But he didn't believe the 52-4 scoreline against Australia gave a fair reflection of that contest, while against the Kiwis, the Lions had shown they could score tries.
"We just need to nail a performance for 80 minutes," he said.
"We believe we're not too far off. Now is the time to do it, to win the semifinal, build a little momentum and give us every chance in the final."
Morley, 31, spent six seasons in the National Rugby League with the Sydney Roosters before returning to the English Super League, where he is captain of Warrington.
Capped 36 times, he is probably still best remembered in international football for his sending off after just 12 seconds of the opening test against Australia in 2003 for a high tackle.
Morley did not intend curbing his fiery approach and believed the Lions needed to lift their aggression against New Zealand.
They also had to improve their defence out wide, where they leaked tries against the Kangaroos and the Kiwis, for whom winger Manu Vatuvei bagged a quartet.
"We don't feel we've been getting broken down the middle too much," he said.
"It's the defence around the edges and we've been doing a lot of work in trying to rectify that."
England have been subjected to plenty of criticism over how their cup campaign has unfolded.
But Morley knew victory at Suncorp Stadium, and with it an expected showdown with Australia, who play Fiji in the other semifinal in Sydney tomorrow, would change everything.
"That's the beauty of sport - one week you're failures, the next you have a good win and you're in the World Cup final," he said.
"We know we're only one big performance from shutting up the knockers who have bagged us. The ball's in our court and it's up to us to deliver."
One thing Morley and his teammates won't lack is plenty of noisy and colourful support, with 6000 English fans estimated to be making the trip for the match.
The exact makeup of the England team they will be backing remains unconfirmed, with coach Tony Smith yet to say if he has reduced his 19-strong squad to 17.
There is also no word on the injury status of fullback Paul Wellens, five-eighths Leon Pryce, interchange forward Gareth Hock and non-selected half Danny McGuire.
As well, speculation remains that players from outside the named squad might still see action, such as winger Ade Gardner, the Super League's top try scorer this season, and the livewire McGuire. That speculation was given credence last night by winger Mark Calderwood's remark that the players themselves had not yet been told who would be playing.
Meanwhile, Morley said England will face the haka, rather than stand in a huddle like they did before last weekend's game.
After that match, stand-in Kiwi skipper Benji Marshall labelled the English as disrespectful, although coach Stephen Kearney later brushed off the issue as being "a storm in a teacup".
"We will face up," Morley said of the pre-semifinal challenge.
Kiwis v England
Brisbane, 10 tonight
Kiwis:
Lance Hohaia
Sam Perrett
Simon Mannering
Jerome Ropati
Manu Vatuvei
Benji Marshall
Nathan Fien
Nathan Cayless (c)
Thomas Leuluai
Adam Blair
Sika Manu
David Fa'alogo
Jeremy Smith
Interchange: Isaac Luke, Greg Eastwood, Bronson Harrison, Sam Rapira.
England:
Paul Wellens
Mark Calderwood
Martin Gleeson
Keith Senior
Lee Smith
Leon Pryce
Rob Burrow
Adrian Morley
Mickey Higham
Jamie Peacock (c)
Gareth Ellis
Jones-Buchanan
Rob Purdham
Interchange (from): James Graham, Ben Westwood, James Roby, Kevin Sinfield, Jon Wilkin, Gareth Hock.
- NZPA