Australia secure final spot

Australia overcame the loss of Billy Slater and stiff opposition from England to reach the Gillette Four Nations final with a 36-20 victory at Wembley.

Slater, named international player of the year this week, suffered a fractured collarbone after just 10 minutes that has ruled him out of the remainder of the series.

But the Kangaroos regrouped to score tries through Greg Inglis, Darius Boys, Chris Lawrence, Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis and Tony Williams, with man of the match Johnathan Thurston kicking six conversions.

England scored tries through Ryan Hall (2), Jack Reed and Chris Heighington and had another by Tom Briscoe controversially disallowed by referee Henry Perenara as they pushed the favourites all the way in front of a 43,344 crowd.

Sam Tomkins felt Briscoe's disallowed try - ruled out for a double movement by Perenara without referring the decision to the video referee - had been the crucial moment.

Tomkins told Sky Sports 2: "That is a crucial decision. There is no reason, when you've got a big screen, not to go to it.

"But that decision is not why we lost.

"I think we competed really well for a lot of the game. A few errors cost us in the end."

England must now beat New Zealand to reach the final, and Tomkins added: "We are certainly getting better week on week and it is a massive test for us next week against New Zealand."