"It was pretty hard -it's another step from NRL," said Lolohea. "It's a big step in my career. You have a lot of experienced guys around you, which makes it a bit easier...but it didn't go the way we wanted it to go."
It was always going to be a harsh learning curve for the 20-year-old, who is still finding his feet at NRL level, with only 26 matches under his belt. He impressed for the Warriors at times this year but it's one thing facing the Dragons, Titans or Raiders it's another going up against England, with a capacity crowd baying for blood.
"The Leeds crowd was outstanding and [today's] was just the same," said Lolohea. "They love their footy over here and full credit to England they played some good footy."
The Kiwis had talked up a strategy that centred around Issac Luke on attack, with the hooker providing the direction and setting the tempo, and Lolohea and Hiku feeding off that. That plan started to unravel towards the end of the first half and didn't function in the second; Luke was worn down by his defensive efforts in the middle of the ruck - as the English aimed runners at him all night - and couldn't replicate the influence he had last week at Headingley.
But there was enough in the first half hour to provide a few signs of hope. Lolohea looked dangerous as he ran the ball and put in a couple of handy short kicks. And he was also part of a right edge defence that stayed solid for most of the night, with only one of England's tries occurring down that flank.
"[As a combination Peta and I] were better [on Monday] than last week and we will get better next week," said Lolohea. "It was really hard...[as a team] we kept giving the ball away too much, particularly in our half. [But] everyone's got improvement in them."
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