Kangaroo stars cruise into final

AUSTRALIA captain Cameron Smith is delighted with his side’s serene progress into the World Cup final.

The Kangaroos were largely unconvincing in the group stages but began to hit their straps with a 46-0 quarter-final win over Samoa in Darwin and followed that up with an even more impressive 54-6 rout of Fiji in the semi-final in Brisbane.

“In our first three matches we had a different line-up every time and it was always going to be a bit clunky for us,” said Smith, who kicked seven goals in his record-breaking 16th World Cup appearance.

“We’ve found bit of continuity now over the last two weeks. There were still a couple of patches in the game where we lost our way a little bit but our completion rates are good and the defence is going good.

“I was really pleased with the effort, we just need to continue that next week.

“Really we’ve just got to throw the ball to Valentine Holmes, that’s 11 tries in two matches now, isn’t it?”

Holmes, the 22-year-old Cronulla winger or full-back, followed up his five-try haul against Samoa with six to equal the Test match record set by New Zealand’s Hugh McGahan in 1983.

Holmes said: “Big credit has to go to this team. I’m loving this World Cup and very happy to make the final. We didn’t start the game too well but we came good.”

Veteran full-back Billy Slater touched down twice to take his total in World Cup tournaments to 16 and pull two clear of his former teammate Jarryd Hayne.