AUSTRALIAN match-winner Greg Inglis admits the Kangaroos will be wiser if they meet England in the Gillette Four Nations final later this month.

Barring a major upset against France in Paris on Saturday, the Kangaroos booked their place in the Elland Road decider with a 26-16 win at Wigan, leaving England and New Zealand to battle it out for the other spot.

Australia never looked back after an Inglis-inspired show enabled them to build a 26-0 half-time lead, but they were shaken by England’s second-half fightback.

“England surprised us, they had a couple of tricks up their sleeve,” said Inglis.

“We were caught off guard and didn’t react very well.

“I don’t think we took our foot off the gas, we just didn’t complete our sets and do what we spoke about at half-time.

“England outdid us in the forwards in the second half and played us off the park but, at the end of the day, we were lucky enough to scrape home with a win.”

Australia captain Darren Lockyer believes England will take heart from their second-half efforts at the DW Stadium.

“They’ll get a lot of confidence out of that,” he said.

“A lot of our guys hadn’t played England here in the UK. It was a different experience for them.

“If you ask them, they’d say England were much tougher than they were last year.”