CAPTAIN Sean O'Loughlin says England are ready to up their game as they prepare to take on Tonga for a place in the World Cup final.

A second consecutive 36-6 victory, this time over Papua New Guinea, enabled England to complete the semi-final line-up – but O'Loughlin knows they must cut out the errors if they are to topple a star-studded Tongan side in Auckland on Saturday.

The skipper said: "We know we need to be better and we feel we're capable of being better. We know there's more in us.

"We're more than happy with how we've progressed in the competition but we know when we come up against some of the better sides, some of the errors we've come up with will cost us."

Two tries apiece from three-quarter partners Jermaine McGillvary, who is now averaging more than a try a game for his country, and Kallum Watkins helped England see off the brave challenge of the Kumuls – but O'Loughlin knows Tonga will offer more of a threat on attack.

Sika Manu's men struggled to overcome Lebanon in their weekend quarter-final but earlier in the tournament demonstrated their potential by beating New Zealand to top their group.

O'Loughlin said: "I've only seen bits of them but they look impressive. Obviously they had a good result against the Kiwis.

"They've got some talent in the side and they are on a bit of a wave with the support behind them. Everything is going well for them."

O'Loughlin's men played in front of a crowd of just 10,563, which included a healthy contingent of England fans, at Melbourne's Rectangular Stadium.

But they are bracing themselves for a cauldron of noise at the 30,000-capacity Mount Smart Stadium. It is estimated that more than 60,000 people of Tongan descent live in New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Wayne Bennett has already stoked the fire ahead of the game by criticising the decisions of Jason Taumalolo and Andrew Fifita to switch their allegiance to Tonga from New Zealand and Australia respectively on the eve of the World Cup, claiming it amounted to player power.

The England coach said: "I didn't speak publicly about it when it happened but the game has to look at it. We have to treat the fans with a lot more respect than we did with this issue.

"It wasn't what the game needed with the World Cup about to start. It was headlines for two or three days.

"The boys, in my opinion, are entitled to play for whoever they want to play for. We just have to have better guidelines around it.

"The game needs to be in charge of the game. The game can't be run by players."