Australian match-winner Greg Inglis believes 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 which brought the hosts three unanswered tries.

"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 as they prepare to take on the Kiwis in Huddersfield on Saturday.

"They'll get a lot of confidence out of that," he said. "A lot 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."

The Kangaroos looked set to repeat their 52-4 hammering from the World Cup when tries from Lockyer, Inglis, Brett Morris and Billy Slater (2) enabled them to establish an unassailable lead.

But Lockyer admits his side were rattled by England's improvement and the tourists also lost their discipline, with scrum-half Johnathan Thurston sent to the sin bin eight minutes from the end for a professional foul.

"England came out and put a bit of pressure on us and we probably didn't handle it as well as we should have," said Lockyer.

"In the second half we were out on our feet. Things weren't going our way but we've got to look at ourselves and say we put ourselves in that position first."

Lockyer had opened the scoring with his 33rd try for his country to equal Ken Irvine's record on the day he also matched the feat of the legendary Clive Churchill by leading the Kangaroos for a 27th time.

The Brisbane skipper, who a week earlier became Australia's most-capped player, modestly played down his tryscoring achievement.

"At the time I was just happy we got away to a good start," he said.

"When I came over here there were a few milestones people were talking about that I might pass but I'm trying to put that aside and just worry about the footy."

Meanwhile, the Australians are not discounting a November 14 rematch with their hosts.

Inglis said of England's clash with New Zealand: "They've a fair chance, games like that are all 50-50."

Australia's debutant prop David Shillington is edging towards a Kiwi victory but is expecting a tight contest.

"I think New Zealand will get over them," he said. "They were very skilful and aggressive against us.

"It will be interesting next week. England have a very good chance. I think it will be a close game."