Monday 3 November 2014 12:34, UK
Sean O’Loughlin is confident England can quickly recover from Sunday’s shattering defeat to Australia as they look to take out their frustrations on New Zealand.
The England squad arrived in Dunedin on Monday evening to begin their preparations for Saturday’s crunch clash with Stephen Kearney's men at the Forsyth Barr Stadium, where a victory by 10 points or more would secure a place in the final a week later.
O'Loughlin, who returned from a quad muscle strain to captain England for the first time against Australia, and Wigan team-mate Liam Farrell have both been cleared to face the Kiwis after they were put on report in the early stages of the game in Melbourne.
Saturday's match would have been a dress rehearsal for the Wellington final had England winger Ryan Hall not been controversially denied a last-minute try by video referee Bernard Sutton, and O'Loughlin admits his side are still coming to terms with the heartbreak.
"It was a very disappointed dressing room," he said. "We felt we had done enough to get the win.
I thought we put in a real strong performance. It was a tough arm wrestle of a game but I felt we dominated areas of the game, it was just some small per cents here and there burnt us a little bit.
"I only saw it on the big screen but, for me, Ryan looked like he touched it and most of the boys felt it was a try. But it wasn't all about that final play; there were probably other parts of the game that cost us.
"I thought we put in a real strong performance. It was a tough arm wrestle of a game but I felt we dominated areas of the game, it was just some small per cents here and there burnt us a little bit.
"They've got some real class individuals and I thought we did a good job on them for probably 90 per cent of the game.
"We let in a couple of tries in the second half which was disappointing but I thought we had scraped it in the end, we just didn't get the result.
"It was a great opportunity to get a win but we have to crack on from this. To not get the win is tough but we know we've got another game and we can put it right here.
"We've got our travelling done early and we'll soon be back out on the pitch."
Saturday's meeting with the Kiwis will be the first since England's heartbreaking 20-18 loss in the World Cup semi-final at Wembley last November, when Shaun Johnson scored a try with 20 seconds left on the clock and then kicked the conversion to put his side into the final.
England have a good record against the Kiwis at home but it is 22 years since Great Britain last won in New Zealand and Steve McNamara's men suffered a 24-10 defeat on their last visit in the 2010 Four Nations Series.
"If we want to be involved in the final, that's the way going to have to do it," said O'Loughlin, who was in the team that lost at Wellington's Westpac Stadium four years ago. "They are a strong side and they turned the Aussies over."
