Papua New Guinea have buried the anguish of a controversial 32-22 loss to England and re-grouped for the enormous challenge of upsetting a shaky New Zealand in their next World Cup clash on Saturday night.

The Kumuls won the hearts of many rugby league fans with their audacious display against powerhouses England in Townsville last weekend.

New Zealand's ordinary Cup debut against favourites Australia 24 hours later gives them hope of qualifying for the finals from the pool of death provided they can re-produce their committed effort against the Kiwis on the Gold Coast.

Kumuls forward Neville Costigan was a forlorn figure in the dressing room for more than an hour after the loss where PNG were denied a crucial try on a forward pass call from referee Shayne Hayne which could have given them a 22-12 lead.

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Coach Adrian Lam, was on the verge of tears during Saturday's halftime break as he soaked in the emotion.

But Lam said he'd put the disappointment behind him and was focusing totally on hitting the Kiwis with a similar game plan which almost paid off against a stunned England.

"I was pretty proud of them. It's been like that since we were up in PNG. I'm pretty passionate about it all," Lam said.

"We've spoken about how the game unfolded, we've moved on and preparing for New Zealand now.

"In the past after a loss the boys would have moved on but they (players) were genuinely devastated sitting in the dressing room.

"They were genuinely heartbroken because they felt they could have won that game if a couple of decisions went our way."

Lam said the challenge for PNG was to back up that performance against the Kiwis who would be stinging from their effort against Australia.

"We got a lot of respect last weekend and it's been tough preparing the boys for this onslaught because it's a pretty big hurdle we're up against," he said.

While Lam would not commit to starting veteran Stanley Gene at five-eighth after the tactic paid off against England he disagrees with speculation the Kiwis will move playmaker Benji Marshall into halfback to involve him in more of the action.

Marshall's lack of involvement against Australia was criticised but Lam isn't expecting him to change positions, although he said the Kiwis may select someone else at No.7 rather than Thomas Leuluai.

"I think they could pick another halfback, Benji's a No.6," said Lam.

"Moving him in cruels his running game out wide but it wouldn't surprised me if they changed sevens although they might give Leuluai another chance - he's a pretty good player."

New Zealand will make at least one change with centre Steve Matai suspended for one game, although he was already in serious doubt with shoulder and thumb injuries.

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