Rugby League World Cup: England coach Steve McNamara refuses to blame players

Coach Steve McNamara insisted none of his players had anything to reproach themselves for following their agonising World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand on Saturday.

With barnstorming players such as man of the match Sam Burgess and New Zealand-bound full-back Sam Tomkins at his disposal, McNamara could be forgiven for getting excited about the prospect of taking England Down Under for the 2014 Four Nations. He knows he cannot look too far ahead at the moment, though, and is concentrating on making sure his charges recover from this loss. "We are distraught but great credit to New Zealand. This is high-level sport and high-level sport can be cruel. It was for us," McNamara said. "I'm not going to try and pick them up yet. They've used every ounce of energy they've got. It's raw and we had a brief chat of how tough we've been. "All of them, every single one, have put their hands up, have prepared brilliantly. They have attacked this tournament. We have dealt with things, maybe other teams haven't. That's what this England team is all about and we've come through the other side and produced a brilliant performance."

Kearney praises character

Johnson's late show means the Kiwis will live to fight another day and will be able to try and defend their trophy in Manchester. Coach Stephen Kearney admitted he had not been able to watch the try and subsequent goal and, while acknowledging his side were recipients of good fortune, felt they were rewarded for doing it tough in the face of some severe England pressure. "I was under the desk so I don't know," he said when asked how he dealt with the late drama. "I was always confident of what we could do if we had a minute to go, had the footy and were down by four. It was the 79 minutes before which were pretty hard. "We gave ourselves a chance with half a minute to go. If you're good enough, you're good enough. If you're under pressure like we were but don't open the floodgates, you have a chance."