England

Bairstow avoids disciplinary action

The subject of player behaviour has again been making headlines after it emerged Bairstow greeted Cameron Bancroft with what the Australian opener described as a headbutt in a Perth bar on October 29.

It follows on from all-rounder Ben Stokes remaining in the UK as he waits to discover if he will be charged after a late-night incident in Bristol in September.

Kangaroos don't buy Bennett's mind games

Bennett made the statement after England’s narrow 20-18 semi-final win over Tonga but Kangaroos prop David Klemmer said those kind of mind games won’t engender any complacency in the Australian squad.

Klemmer insisted Bennett would instil belief in the England squad that they could upset the host nation. 

Australia seal win to take Ashes lead

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Resuming on 114-0 and needing just 56 more runs to win in Brisbane, David Warner (87no) and Cameron Bancroft (82no) needed just over an hour on the final day to seal a convincing win in a game that, for the first three days, seemed right in the balance.

Hussain: Aussie attack relentless

The big difference between the sides in the first Ashes Test has been that Australia's star player, Steve Smith, has played a world-class innings that wins you games.

England had their warnings from Trevor Bayliss before the series when he said pretty fifties would not be enough and that has become apparent, with Smith's 141 not out for Australia the main reason they are now only 56 runs away from a 1-0 lead.

Wonderful Widdop stars again

Better known as a five-eighth these days, Widdop's return to his former position has been one of the major positives for coach Wayne Bennett's side so far and in Auckland he laid on two of England's tries against Tonga and scored the other, causing constant issues with his evasive running.

Time for England to address ball control

The Wayne Bennett-coached side have completed at below 80 per cent in three of their four games so far, culminating in a sloppy effort in last week's 36-6 quarter-final victory over Papua New Guinea, where they completed just over half of their 46 sets.

'England scared on last Ashes tour'

The off-spinner says Mitchell Johnson's extreme pace in 2013-14 intimidated the tourists so much that they were already "broken" after the first Test.

Johnson took 37 wickets at 13.97 and did most of the damage as England were whitewashed 5-0.

"Seeing Mitchell Johnson scare all the Poms was unbelievable," Lyon said. "Leading into (the third Test at) Perth we knew they were broken; we knew Matt Prior wanted to fly home before the game started."

England through to semis after scrappy win

Despite this afternoon’s 36-6 win over the PNG LNG Kumuls, Wayne Bennett’s England only completed 25 of 45 sets.

The Kumuls were dealt a mighty blow 90 seconds into the match when captain David Mead came off second best after a try saving tackle on England’s Luke Gale.

After surviving early raids from the English, the Kumuls went on the counter-attack and came agonisingly close to drawing first blood after Kato Ottio dropped a bomb in the in-goal.

Repeat sets to England produced the first points with Jermaine McGillvary flying over on the wing.

Biting allegation mars big Jillaroos win

It was another runaway win by Australia after beating Cook Islands 58-4 on Thursday in the opening pool round. The Jillaroos ran in another eight tries after their 11 on Thursday, with rookie left-side winger Meg ward bagging a double against England.

But the cloud of unsporting behaviour hung over the match.

England claim controversial win

Criticised for their underwhelming display against Argentina last time out, England delivered a gritty display in miserable conditions at Twickenham - where rain fell throughout and knock-ons were plentiful - before surging clear with three tries in the final eight minutes.

Yet the visitors fumed at a host of refereeing calls, with yellow cards for Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale coming in between the former seeing a try disallowed and Elliot Daly being awarded a controversial score for England.