England could have done New Zealand a favour as a campaign started in Warrington ends at Old Trafford on Saturday

The Kiwis have arguably figured in the two best games of the tournament, the Group B opening win against Samoa at The Halliwell Jones Stadium and the semi-final victory over England at Wembley.

At the end of both ties, Shaun Johnson, New Zealand’s heroic matchwinner at the weekend, found himself thanking supporters.

He hailed the Warrington crowd for the atmosphere generated on October 27, saying it was a pleasure to play in front of them before moving on with the Kiwis to shine in France and then at Leeds Rhinos’ Headingley Stadium against Papua New Guinea and then Scotland.

And he said those earlier experiences had played an important role in his ability to hold his nerve and steer New Zealand into the final, while at the same time breaking England hearts.

Boos and jeers reverberated around Wembley as the 23-year-old New Zealand Warriors scrum half attempted to land the all-important conversion to his own last-gasp try in our national stadium.

“I guess I can thank the England crowds for warming me to that throughout this tournament,” he said.

“It’s been pretty vocal in each stadium we’ve played at so I was able to put the noise aside and focus on what I had to do.

“It was by far the biggest moment of my career.”

He was grateful for the opportunity to make amends for earlier defensive mistakes, falling off the tackle of big Sam Burgess leading up to Sean O’Loughlin’s try and then taking Kevin Sinfield’s dummy for the Burgess try that put England 18-14 in front with 14 minutes remaining.

And he said he feared the worst when his side went behind.

“I was real dirty on myself. I was trying to solve things on my own at that point in time and got made to look like a fool,” he said.

“I’ve built my game on defence this tournament but defensively I wasn’t there on Saturday and I guess if it wasn’t for that play at the end it would have been bitter tasting and it would have been pretty hard to have lived with myself if we’d had to go home at that stage.

“As it was, we knew if we could get back into the arm wrestle we’d have a chance to score.

“That character was probably the most pleasing thing that came out of it for us.

“For the first time in this whole competition we’d been put in that situation.

“And we knew it was going to be like that at some point in the game. It was especially like that in the first half when it seriously felt like nothing was going our way.

“But to get ourselves back to 8-8 going into the sheds at half time was a big effort.

“And then in the final five minutes when a few passes went astray it felt like we were throwing the World Cup away.

“But to our credit we stuck at it, never stopped believing and got the result.”

He said he felt bags of sympathy for England, losing in the way they did after such a strong performance.

“I’ve got the utmost respect for England, all the Kiwi boys do,” he added.

“Without sounding cocky, I don’t think many people gave them a chance in Saturday’s game and we were heavy favourites but we knew it was never going to be like that.

“They lived up to everything we thought they were going to do and played very well.

“They put us under a lot of pressure and so to put us back in the game and then come up with a win is pretty special. It’s a bit of relief, too.”

He may have more thank yous to announce on Saturday.

For the battle with England has hardened the Kiwis to Saturday’s showdown with Australia, who have seemingly cruised their way to Old Trafford after their opening-day tussle with England at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

The Kangaroos have not been seriously tested for five weeks and that could play into New Zealand’s hands as they bid to win back-to-back World Cup tournaments for the first time in their history.