KEY POINTS:
Mercurial playmaker Benji Marshall is looking forward rather than back as New Zealand prepare for the league World Cup final next weekend after disposing of England in an absorbing but mistake-ridden contest.
The influential five-eighths admitted it was a close-run thing in Brisbane on Friday night, as the Kiwis needed his late try to seal a 32-22 semifinal victory.
"To be honest, we nearly lost it at the end, but we're just happy to get through to the final," he said.
Both sides were guilty of numerous unforced errors at a warm and humid Suncorp Stadium, and almost all of the 10 tries scored came straight after turnovers or penalties.
New Zealand have never won the World Cup, having twice been beaten finalists, and Marsh agreed that the Kiwis had to cut their mistake rate at the same venue next Saturday to land the trophy.
"We definitely can't afford to drop that much ball," he said. "It was disappointing, but at the same time we'll put that behind us. We're in the final of the World Cup, so everything in the past doesn't matter any more. We just have to look to the future and improve."
Apart from the errors, New Zealand were also guilty of easing off after they raced out to a 16-0 lead during the first half.
England hit back to get within six points three times over the rest of the match, but their attempts to overtake the Kiwis were thwarted by their own lack of ball security.
"We still haven't put a full game together," Marshall said. "If we can play like the first 30 minutes all game next week, it will go a long way towards us winning, but we can't take the foot off the pedal and let teams back in."
Marshall's own showing was a reflection of his team's - some good touches and some less so, like the poor pass he threw that produced a turnover and led to the play of the game.
From the ensuing scrum and with halftime beckoning, lock Rob Purdham kicked ahead on the first tackle for five-eighths Danny McGuire to race through, regather and score by the posts to help England close to 10-16 at the break.
"I probably wasn't thinking at the time, and probably should have just kicked down into the corner," Marshall said.
"But it's gone now. I'm just going to have to pick myself up for next week. It may not have been the greatest game, but we're in the World Cup final."
But there were some notable performances within the Kiwis' ranks, including a tournament-best display from hooker Thomas Leuluai, who had been below par in the three pool matches.
The player who has taken over Leuluai's halfback spot, Nathan Fien, produced an excellent kicking game and he was named player of the match for the second successive week.
In the forwards, there was solid work from the likes of Bronson Harrison, Sam Rapira and Adam Blair.
New Zealand opened the scoring when Marshall offloaded to unmarked winger Sam Perrett to score.
Leuluai then showed good deception at dummy half to send fullback Lance Hohaia through a hole to dot down, before Hohaia set up centre Jerome Ropati for the Kiwis' third try.
England hit back when skipper Jamie Peacock barged over, before they sent their fans into raptures with the Purdham-McGuire one-two just before the interval.
The match then seesawed its way through the second half.
New Zealand settled the ship with a try to Harrison, but England closed again through centre Martin Gleeson.
Ropati grabbed his second try to give the Kiwis breathing space once more, but McGuire's second kept English hopes alive, before Marshall's clincher.
- NZPA
