League: Reality of touring England hits home

Jesse Bromwich says a win this week would really boost morale. Photo / Photosport

If you watched Jesse Bromwich closely after Kiwis training earlier this week, the expression on his face summed up the overriding sentiment about this tour.

Aside from the despair and disappointment after a series loss, there was also a sense of disbelief from New Zealand's senior prop.

Like most in the New Zealand league fraternity, Bromwich finds it hard to understand just how the Kiwis are 2-0 down, and fighting to avoid a whitewash on Sunday afternoon at Elland Road (Monday 4am, NZT).

That wasn't in the script for this international season. The Kiwis suffered a few withdrawals (notably Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Tohu Harris) but still picked a strong squad, with a ton of players in form from stellar NRL seasons, including a group of Warriors coming off their history-making campaign.

There was a good blend of youth and experience, and that optimism was borne out in the stunning 26-24 win over the Kangaroos at Mt Smart, which was the most complete New Zealand performance in more than three years.

But the Kiwis never got near those levels again on this tour, which has unravelled in an unexpected and excoriating way. When they click, this New Zealand side has managed to cut through the English team at will, but it's been patchy.

The Kiwis have brought the glitz, but the home side has monopolized the grit. The touring team hasn't been helped by some bizarre officiating, and has struggled to adjust to the conditions in the north of England.

Sometimes the margins have been fine - if Joseph Manu had hauled in his intercept opportunity in the 65th minute at Anfield it would be a vastly different story - but that's test matches and Wayne Bennett's team have been the more cohesive, committed unit across 160 minutes of football.

"We have been there or thereabouts," said Bromwich. "We have put in a lot of effort, when is credit to all the boys, but we have just been doing some silly things. Last week we had six errors at the back end of the second half, which is very tough in league. You are never going to win a game giving away that much possession."

This Kiwis team has been involved in tighter contests than the previous two tours (2015 and 2016) but unlike those trips, where there was at least one win, so far they have nothing to show for it.

History doesn't reflect well on the New Zealand teams that have suffered 3-0 series losses in England in the modern era, especially the 2007 and 1993 squads. On paper this side is superior to those two teams, and they don't want to be another unfortunate footnote in history.

"It's been tough," said Bromwich. "We've prepared really well and the camp has been awesome. A win this week would really boost morale around the place [we] don't want to go home with a clean sweep."

Despite the predicament, the Storm front rower is confident about the future, as the Kiwis begin a new World Cup cycle.

"We have a lot of good young players and Madge (Michael Maguire) is doing a great job and all the staff are doing the best they can to get [us] prepared and in that direction," said Bromwich. "It's a professional environment and we are definitely heading in the right direction. We haven't got the results, but geez we have put in some effort in and hopefully that [result] is just around the corner."