ENGLAND’S determination and courage were laudable but they still came a cropper to a ruthless Australia in the Gillette Four Nations final. Those were the views of head coach Steve McNamara following the Kangaroos’ 30-8 win at Elland Road, Leeds, on Saturday night.

England, second-best throughout, were somehow level pegging midway through the second half, but, according to captain Jamie Peacock, the Leeds prop, poor execution in the first 60 minutes led to fatigue and, ultimately, their downfall in the last 20.

McNamara likewise praised the effort among his troops but reckoned they failed to find their rhythm – and missed the chance of toppling the Aussies in a series for the first time in 39 years.

“We genuinely thought we had a great shot of winning that game,” said McNamara.

“We went into half-time at 8-6 down and in the second half we missed our opportunities and Australia were ruthless.

“In the first half we had to defend our goalline on so many occasions and I think the England of old would have folded.

“We conceded after three minutes then didn’t concede for the rest of the half. Even at 8-6 at half-time we were satisfied with the situation and we probably didn’t play as well as we could.

“We just never found our rhythm in the second half and paid the price. We’ve got to take those opportunities when you get them. The effort was great but we just fell a bit short.”

The result gave Australia captain Darren Lockyer the perfect send-off into retirement after 59 caps.

The great stand-off fittingly scored the last try at the death, and the Yorkshire crowd, while no doubt happy to see the back of him, were not slow to show their respect. Fluffing the easy conversion did not detract from the moment.

He said afterwards that England could have hope heading towards the 2013 Rugby League World Cup – although the last quarter here showed they still had a way to go to match the Green and Golds, not least in the creative departments.

It was 8-8 with 23 minutes left, but then Aussie winger Jharal Yow Yeh was given an easy run-in, Lockyer being the chief architect.

Johnathan Thurston, who ended with four conversions, and Greg Inglis also crossed to take the Kangaroos clear.

Earlier, they had gone ahead through Sam Thaiday after only a few minutes but otherwise had only a Thurston penalty on the half-time hooter to show for their superiority.

They had three tries rightly disallowed by the video referee, while England were still in it thanks to a penalty try from Ryan Hall, who was only denied the touchdown by a head high tackle from Thurston.

Kevin Sinfield converted and equalised with a penalty early in the second half, reward for England’s best spell.

However, while they were not overwhelmed by the Kangaroos like they were here in the 2009 final, the last quarter was telling as the Aussies regained the crown they had lost to New Zealand 12 months ago.