England (24) 36
Tries: Robinson 2, Clubb 4, Harrison Goals: Westwood 3, Widdop

Papua New Guinea (0) 10
Tries: Aizue, Yere Goals: Aiye

Highlights - England 36-10 Papua New Guinea

Tony Clubb's first-half hat-trick spared England's blushes as they laboured to a win over Papua New Guinea in their final Four Nations game.

The Harlequins centre's treble, plus two from Huddersfield's Luke Robinson, put England 24-0 up at half-time.

But England failed to build on the lead and Makali Aizue and Menzie Yere pulled tries back for Papua New Guinea.

Clubb added his fourth of the match late on as Steve McNamara's team avoided the tournament wooden spoon.

England's second-half under-performance could be partly explained by the fact that injuries reduced them to just one replacement in the second period against hard-tackling opponents, but it was still a disappointing display.

From the outset, the Kumuls, who had conceded 118 points in their matches against Australia and New Zealand, played an extremely physical game, with captain Paul Aiton warned about his side's tactics early on.

England's opening score came on 15 minutes after a penalty was awarded for a high tackle when Sam Burgess was taken out by Nickson Loko and James Roby sent scrum-half Robinson over for the first try.

England doubled their lead from the kick-off, as skipper James Graham found Tom Briscoe in space, and Clubb finished off a 90-metre move to touch down.

Robinson then set up Clubb to force his way over for his second try, before the Huddersfield player bagged his own second, a fine solo effort.

Sean O'Loughlin's pass put in Clubb for his third just before half-time as England looked on course for a comfortable win but, having lost Burgess to a dislocated shoulder and stand-off Kevin Brown to a head injury, they struggled to find their momentum after the break.

Their problems were compounded when a dislocated elbow ended Robinson's game just four minutes into the second period, although substitute Ben Harrison had an instant impact, scoring his first try for England.

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Papua New Guinea then came more into the match and prop Aizue drew the biggest cheer of the day so far when he crashed through the attempted tackles of Harrison and Gareth Widdop to score his team's opening try.

Inspired by that success, they followed it with the best try of the match as stand-off Glen Nami re-gathered his own kick, and good follow-up work by Aiton allowed centre Yere to touch down for a second score.

Clubb's fourth try ensured England had the final say on the scoreboard, but despite the margin of victory, it was an anti-climactic end to England's tour.

England: S Tomkins (Wigan); R Hall (Leeds), L Cudjoe (Huddersfield), T Clubb (Harlequins), T Briscoe (Hull); K Brown (Huddersfield), L Robinson (Huddersfield), J Graham (St Helens, capt), J Roby (St Helens), S Burgess (South Sydney), G Ellis (Wests Tigers), B Westwood (Warrington), S O'Loughlin (Wigan).
Subs: D Griffin (Huddersfield), G Carvell (Warrington), B Harrison (Warrington), G Widdop (Melbourne).

Papua New Guinea: Ryan Tongia; Michael Mark, Jessie Joe Parker, Menzie Yere, Elijah Riyong; Glen Nami, Dion Aiye; Makali Aizue, Charlie Wabo, James Nightingale, Rodney Griffin, David Loko, Paul Aiton (capt).
Subs (from): Benjamin John, Rodney Pora, Pidi Tongap, Nickson Kolo, George Moni, Richard Kambo, Johnson Kuike.

Highlights - New Zealand 76-12 Papua New Guinea

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