Ade Gardner, of St Helens, will have the job of taming Manu Vatuvei, the New Zealand wing known as “The Beast” in Saturday's World Cup semi-final.

Gardner, the Super League top try-scorer in 2008, returns to the England side after being rested for the pool game in Newcastle, in which Vatuvei earned comparisons with Lesley Vainikolo, the cross-code Kiwis league and England union international, after he crossed for four tries in a 36-24 victory.

"Manu’s a big strong unit. It’s more about putting as much pressure on him as you possibly can,” Gardner, mindful of England’s failure to cope with both Australia and New Zealand’s speed out wide in the pool stages, said.

“You can’t let yourself think too much about his size or what he can do, or you’ll forget about other people. I played opposite Lesley Vainikolo in the Super League and tangled with him once or twice, so I’m looking forward to it.”

After stinging criticism over consecutive losses, Gardner added: “We can’t listen to what’s going on outside our training camp. We’re in a semi-final. Training has been really intense and, if we win, we’re in a World Cup final and no-one remembers the last two defeats.

"We’re still trying to find our feet a little bit, so hopefully we can pull it all together. Everyone has been asked to get more involved. We need to improve our attacking combinations, although it’s probably more a defensive thing.”

Malcolm Reilly, the former Great Britain coach and last Ashes series winner with Britain in 1970, was particularly scathing. “They needed to win that game. They needed to send out a message because the previous result was embarrassing to say the least,” he said. “They need to be more passionate about the cause.

"I don’t know if they can be motivated more than they have been. If personal pride isn’t there it’s very difficult. Everyone expected much more, including myself.

“The game is the same in both countries but it’s played a lot faster in Australia. I don’t think we invest enough time and money in juniors. We have a lot of competition from soccer, so we’re not getting the athletes, and we don’t have access to Pacific Islanders like Australia. If we don’t start getting competitive, international football will cease to exist.”

Tony Smith, the coach, has come under fire but refused to be anything other than positive about reaching the final.

“Those who lose faith, I’m glad they’re not in my team,” he said. “The team hasn’t lost faith. If that’s the attitude of some people, I’m sure it’ll make it sweeter when things go well for us. We’re a team and we’re all in this together.”