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Australia v EnglandSuncorp Stadium
Saturday 8pm
English spirits might have taken a battering in the cricket at the Gabba but all hope isn't lost with their rugby league heroes out to salvage some national pride when they take on Australia in Saturday night's World Cup final.
Wayne Bennett's men will start as rank outsiders, and while their coach doesn't believe they are playing well enough to beat the defending champions England will head into this weekend's clash with plenty of confidence after they survived a furious Tongan comeback in the semi-final to hang on for a thrilling 20-18 win.
There might have been some controversy at the end but the final few minutes masked what had been a fairly dominant performance by the English who are now on a four-game winning streak after dropping the opening game of the tournament to Australia.
While their opponents snuck into the decider, there were no such issues for the Kangaroos who maintained their perfect record with a crushing win over Fiji that was headlined by Valentine Holmes's record-breaking six-try haul.
The Aussies have seemingly gotten better with every game they've played, and despite a couple of knocks against Fiji they are unchanged for this weekend's clash.
It's a different story for England who will be without hooker Josh Hodgson after he tore his ACL last week. James Roby will take his place in the No.9 jersey with Chris Heighington joining the bench.
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