England have the chance to atone for their World Cup flop when they meet New Zealand in the Gillette Four Nations at Huddersfield on Saturday.

It was the Kiwis who put England out of their misery with a 32-22 semi-final victory in Brisbane 12 months ago, ending their month-long torment in Australia.

All will be forgiven if Tony Smith's men can overturn that result and reach next Saturday's final but defeat could signal the end for the coach, whose contract runs out at the end of the tournament.

A place in the Elland Road decider will be up for grabs at the Galpharm Stadium, as long as Australia avoid an unthinkable defeat by France beforehand in Paris.

"It's good," said England captain Jamie Peacock. "It's what international football is all about, to be going into the last week of the normal competition with a place in the final on the line."

England will be encouraged by their second-half display against Australia, in which they got on top of the Kangaroo forwards and scored three unanswered tries, but Smith knows the Kiwis will cause different kinds of problems.

They enjoyed the better of their opening 20-20 draw with Australia and flexed their muscles with a 62-12 win over France last week.

"They're a different kettle of fish," said Smith. "They play a different style to the Australians.

"They are a little bit more unpredictable, they've got a few players who take a bit more risk and there's a bit more offload in their forwards.

"They've also got a couple of big backs and at times it's hard to tell whether they're backs or forwards with their size.

"It's a challenge that we're excited about but we need to be better than we were last week."

In an attempt to find that improvement, Smith has once more rung the changes, demonstrating a ruthless streak with his selection decisions.

He has clearly taken a gamble in dropping the experienced Danny McGuire in favour of the exciting but unproven Kyle Eastmond and is hoping that Warrington centre Chris Bridge can carry his club form onto the international stage.

The axing of McGuire means England will have a completely re-shaped back division from their last meeting with the Kiwis at Suncorp Stadium 12 months ago, while the tourists are also much changed.

The loss of Leeds-bound forward Greg Eastwood leaves New Zealand without 10 members of the side that beat Australia 34-20 in the World Cup final, but the replacements have impressed Peacock.

"I think New Zealand have shown a great attitude," he said. "They are missing some big names but the guys who have come in are doing a great job and are playing with some real tenacity."

Peacock, who felt the pain of the World Cup losses more deeply than anybody, says there is a determination to make amends but also believes that failure to reach the Four Nations final would not be cataclysmic.

In selecting Eastmond, along with the likes of Sam Tomkins, Richie Myler and Tom Briscoe, Smith has had one eye on the next World Cup in 2013 and his captain is also looking long-term.

"We want to get to the final, there's no doubt about that, but it's not going to be the be-all and end-all and the death of British rugby league if we don't get there," he said.

"You look at the average age of the squad and there are going to be a lot of these players that are going to be in the World Cup."