Sam Tomkins cannot wait for England's do-or-die Gillette Four Nations clash with New Zealand - and the chance to finally prove his country can compete with the big two.

The 20-year-old Wigan half-back was at the heart of England's spirited fightback at the DW Stadium on Saturday which provided Australia with a fright and gave the hosts renewed hope of reaching the November 14 final at Elland Road.

England's 26-16 defeat means they must beat the World Cup winners in the final group match at the Galpharm Stadium next Saturday in order to earn a re-match with the Kangaroos, and Tomkins said: "We kept them scoreless in the second half and we've got to build on that for next week. We've got to prove to ourselves that we can beat the top teams."

He added: "The Kiwis played well against the Aussies (in a game which finished 20-20) and were unlucky not to win, so it doesn't get any easier."

The 23,122 crowd at Wigan feared a repeat of England's 52-4 World Cup humiliation in Melbourne when tries from Billy Slater (two), man-of-the-match Greg Inglis, captain Darren Lockyer and Brett Morris put Australia 26-0 up by the break.

But, inspired by the dazzling footwork of Tomkins and the impact from the bench of heavyweight forwards Eorl Crabtree and Sam Burgess, England restored their pride thanks to tries from Burgess, Gareth Ellis and Lee Smith.

"We needed to show a bit of passion in the second half," admitted Tomkins.

"In the first half, we were a bit sluggish at times - so we had to try and rectify that.

"That was how we want to play; we want to be passing the ball and playing some attractive rugby and scoring tries. We just gave ourselves too much to do."